Change My Mind
by otoru-onii
Summary: Any guy would kill to have Roxas's position right now, for all the girls worshipped the ground he walked on. One problem was that GIRLS were the things he despised most. [RoxasNaminé w a bit SoraKairi AU]
1. Here She Comes

A/N: Hi guys! This is the changed story which used to be known as **Don't Expect A Tip**. It still features Roxas and Naminé as our main characters, so don't worry! I've read over it a few times and decided to stick with this one. I hope you guys enjoy it as well as I do!

I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura do.

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**Chapter 1**

Throughout Destiny High's campus, a very loud screech could be heard rolling around in various key tones as the students bustled to each other about their past weekend and upcoming plans. One in particular, has no interest whatsoever, especially if it involved a specific specie of the human race. Girls.

"Come on, Roxas!" begged a fire-headed junior. "Just this once!"

"Axel, I said no!" cried the spiked blond who rode upon a skateboard. "Girls bug me."

"Come on, buddy," pleaded another companion who had a dirty blond mullet. "Just because you had bad experiences in the past, it doesn't mean you'll have it forever!"

"Demyx, not you too!" Roxas irritably cried. "Come on, why's it so important for me to come along with you guys?"

The two juniors stopped, facing their sophomore blond who halted his skateboard.

"What do you mean WHY?" emphasized Axel. "You're our best buddy!"

Demyx nodded silently. "Besides, it would be a bit weird for the other girl if she didn't have someone to talk to."

Roxas sighed and pushed onward upon his skateboard. "Ask Zexion or Marluxia or something."

"No way!" Axel immediately replied, making sweeping motions with his hands. "Do you know what happened last time?"

"Zexion didn't talk whatsoever and kept staring the girl down. And Marluxia, well, let's just say that PINK isn't that other girl's favorite color anymore," Demyx pointed out. Roxas couldn't help but let out a little snicker.

"So come on! Just this once! For us, man!" Demyx pleaded.

Roxas shook his head. "I already said no. Girls are girls. They're all the same."

Axel and Demyx looked at each other, not believing how ignorant Roxas was being.

"But you're like, popular with the whole freshman and sophomore chicks, aren't you?" asked Demyx.

"Yeah, but it's not like I care. They're only doing it because I'm 'cute'," Roxas bitterly quoted with his fingers. "During middle school, none of the girls wouldn't even talk to me because of how weak and dumb I looked every time I got bullied."

Axel scratched his cheek nervously. "Well, isn't that all in the past now?"

"It may be," Roxas said. "But it's still in my memory. Every girl is the same, and they'll always be that way."

"Roxas," Demyx sighed. "Aren't you being a bit sexist? Not every girl is like that."

Roxas scrunched his nose a bit. "So what? It's true."

The two juniors sighed simultaneously, giving up hope on their sophomore friend and followed after his aimless direction around the campus. Indeed, Roxas was quite popular, especially with the younger females. To them, he seemed like a skateboard hunk that does tricks all day to impress everyone and stand out. In reality, Roxas was just a skateboard junkie who abandoned his tricks long ago after the rejection he ascertained in middle school. Whenever a girl greeted, he'd ignore. Although it might seem rude to us, it seemed like a 'cool way' of greeting to his fan girls. It happened quite often, that Roxas would reject any offer or ignore any contact given from females. In time, it got quite annoying and experienced what it was like to be 'popular'. It didn't faze him how pretty or friendly a girl acted in front of him. In fact, he found it irritating that these girls change into a different character whenever their favorite person walked by or was around. None of them acted like their selves, and Roxas wouldn't even look in their direction anymore. Thus, his conclusion formed in his mind that "All girls are the same".

_No one can change my mind._

The ear-ripping bell resonated throughout the campus at exactly seven o' clock, cueing the students to assemble in the large main building. Roxas nonchalantly followed after until he heard a coarse voice call from behind.

"Roxas get off that skateboard immediately or you'll receive detention for a month," scolded a dean.

"Alright alright, I'm off," Roxas mockingly droned hopping off his board and carrying it around his arm.

Demyx shook his head disapprovingly as Axel sighed a long breath before entering through the double-doors and into their designated classes. Roxas parted with his friends, since the juniors mainly have their lessons on the third floor while the sophomores resigned in the second. After passing lazily through the hallway, Roxas made a fashionably late entrance into his Geometry class not even noticing the two girls standing nervously by the doorway.

"Roxas, you're late," announced a very irritated teacher.

"Sorry, Cloud. Won't happen again," Roxas yawned.

"That's Mr. Strife to you. Go and take your seat," he demanded.

Roxas did so without a word and sluggishly slopped himself in his desk, dropping his skateboard under the chair. A concerned-looking boy next to him eyed him worriedly. His caramel-spikes swayed as he shook his head and bent over to whisper to him.

"Roxas, you're gunna get into more trouble from your mom and dad if you keep this up," replied the brown-haired boy.

Roxas side-glanced him with careless blue eyes. "Yeah, I know that. You don't have to keep telling me that, cousin."

The boy sighed deeply but quietly as he retreated back to his desk. "When will you start calling me by my first name? You know, 'Sora'?"

Roxas shrugged. "It's a habit I got when we were little."

After the class got settled and quieted down a bit, Mr. Strife abruptly stood up and strode around his desk to face his students.

"Class, as I have announced last week, we have transfer students. I want you to welcome them warmly," he sternly informed. The teens whispered to one another excitedly after the announcement. Roxas merely yawned and hopelessly tried balancing his pencil on the tip of his finger while Sora joined in on a conversation with boys across from him.

"You two can come in now," called Mr. Strife.

On cue, two girls timidly walked past the door, presenting themselves in front of the class. Roxas rolled his eyes and attempted to balance the pencil once again to contain himself from throwing them any mean looks.

"Class, I'd like you to meet Kairi and Naminé," Strife said loudly.

The students looked at the pair with mixed expressions, mostly ones of surprise from the males. The red-headed girl with determined blue eyes smiled warmly and greeted happily.

"Hi! Nice to meet you all! My name is Kairi!"

Followed by the bright blond with the same color of eyes.

"And I'm her cousin, Naminé."

The class greeted in their own way, easing the tension in the two. Mr. Strife assigned their seats at the two empty desks in the back where most of the extra books and calculators resided. Roxas leaned on his chair, looking up at the ceiling when his cousin leaned over more with an abnormally happy expression.

"Dude, Roxas, did you see them?" he asked excitedly.

"Cousin, they were right in FRONT of the class, introducing themselves. I'm pretty sure I got a very good glimpse of them," Roxas smartly replied rocking back and forth on the two legs of the chairs.

Sora pouted and decided to ignore the comment. "Anyway, they're pretty cute! Especially that red head."

"Go talk to her then," Roxas boredly suggested as he closed his eyes.

"I'll do it at the end of class," said Sora eagerly.

"Better do it quick. The other guys are drooling over her like you are already," pointed Roxas through concealed eyes. Sora saw and confirmed that the others were indeed looking intently at the new transfers like they were made of gold.

"Roxas. Sit properly and pay attention," Mr. Strife irritably demanded as he flipped through the pages of the book.

After pivoting back and forth a few times more, he landed back on the four legs and scowled as the instructor began giving problems on the white board.

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"Alright class. Thanks to Olette for doing a job well done on her part of the problems, we have five minutes before class ends. Keep the noise level down and no homework for tonight," announced Mr. Strife as he shut his book and gracefully went behind his desk and pulled out a bunch of papers.

"Finally," Roxas moaned as he closed his black binder hastily. "It'll be the end of me if we had to solve one more triangle."

"Yeah yeah," Sora said after zipping up his things. "Wanna go over there with me?"

Roxas leaned back on his chair. "Go where?"

Sora pointed in the direction of the two newbies. "There! Where else?"

"No thanks," Roxas immediately replied folding his hands behind his head.

"Too bad," Sora said and pulled Roxas by the arm out of his chair. He recklessly dragged his cousin from their side of the room to the other where the girls dwelled.

"Sora, let go you dimwit! I don't wanna meet them!" Roxas angrily said through gritted teeth while trying to resist against his cousin's will.

"What's the harm, Roxas? All you gotta do is say 'Hi, I'm Roxas. Nice to meet you', and then that'll be it!" said Sora giddily as each step progressed to the red head and her cousin.

"Geez, one glance at her and you're already drooling a river," Roxas insulted as he continued struggling. He soon stopped once he came to their destination and found the two conversing with each other. After they acknowledged their presence, the new student named Kairi was the first to respond.

"Hi!" she warmly smiled.

"H-Hi," Sora said through a dream state. He soon snapped out of it when Roxas wrenched his arm out of his grasp. "U-Um, my name's Sora!"

Kairi took Sora's outstretched hand shook it gently. "Nice to meet you, Sora. This is my cousin."

The blond girl smiled and greeted," Hi there. I'm Naminé."

"A-Ah, nice to meet you. Oh, and, this is my cousin Roxas," Sora introduced as he hitch-hiked to the blond beside him.

Roxas looked away uninterested. "Hi."

Kairi and Naminé raised a brow. "Hi, Roxas. Nice to meet you."

Sora scratched his head uneasily. "U-Uh, sorry about him. He's just having a bad day today."

"Anything we can do?" Naminé politely asked.

It was just what Roxas wanted to hear. Roxas huffed and began walking away.

"None of your business," Roxas rudely inputted.

"Hey, I was just trying to help!" Naminé angrily called after him.

"Yeah," Roxas answered. "You and every other mindless girl out there."

"What was that?" Naminé angrily shouted. "I'll teach you ya-"

"Whoa, Naminé, hold on!" Kairi said, holding her in her chair. Sora helped also with an uneasy expression.

"Please don't be mad at him. He's just had a lot of bad experiences in the past with girls," reassured Sora. Though the reassurance did nothing to soothe Naminé's anger.

"And besides, we've just met him. I think he'll change in time," Kairi added, smiling to Sora who now looked as red as a cherry.

Naminé settled down and let out sigh. "Fine. I'll give him one more chance then."

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Roxas fiddled with his combination lock until the latch opened and the metallic blue door swung open to reveal an empty space full of family pictures, friends, and skate boarding idols. The open compartment below was now being forcefully shoved by a decrypt old math book and science book. Ignoring the calls spewing from passing girls, he shut his locker roughly and inserted the lock. Never in his life had he felt so strange, especially to a GIRL. ONE girl in particular, and that girl was Naminé. No, it wasn't love or anything. He just felt this sort of acknowledgement for her, for she is the first one to even be physically ANGRY at him unlike all the other girls who vie for at least a look in the eye from him. It surprised him even more that Naminé hadn't fallen head-over-heels for him, not that he was trying to be conceited or anything. No, Naminé HATED him rather than ADORED him. Can we blame Roxas for thinking this way? After all, he went through three years of middle school being bullied by older boys and being treated like junk by girls. Now that the two years of high school are passing, he is now the celebrity and dream-boyfriend of everyone. Must we really blame him for his harsh actions toward the female race? Maybe not, but if only Naminé can see it through our eyes.

"Hey."

Roxas reacted to the gentle tap on his shoulder and turned to find his "slight acknowledgement".

"What do you want?" he asked rudely.

"Look, maybe I did something to you to make you hate me or said something that might have offended you. Either way, we got off on the wrong foot back in algebra. How about we start over?" Naminé compromised hopefully.

Roxas hauled his back pack over his right shoulder and gave her an annoyed look. "I couldn't give a damn if we got off on the wrong foot or whatever. Just go away."

Naminé scowled and crossed her arms. "I was just TRYING to be nice!"

"Heh," Roxas sneered. "Sorry, but trying isn't good enough. Later."

Roxas brushed past her, leaving the worst expression on her face. She turned around slowly, watching him go with eyes that were defeated, yet pitiful. Though that all drained away when a reassuring voice called her name.

"Naminé?"

Naminé's blue eyes turned to ones like her own.

"Oh, hey Kairi."

"How did it go?" she asked softly.

Naminé shook her head. "He's a jerk."

"Well," Kairi chuckled. "We all may have friends, as well as enemies. At least we tried, right?"

Naminé smiled. "Auntie told you that, huh?"

Kairi nodded sweetly. "Come on, let's go find our next class! I can't wait 'till we find our dorm room!"

Taking her cousin's hand, Kairi walked along the tiled floor sweeping through students and teachers while trying to shake the pout out of Naminé face.

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"What?!" Sora exclaimed as he grabbed a wrapped sandwich from the stands.

Roxas rubbed his left ear from the obnoxious volume as he took a chew out of his apple. "What's your problem? It's not like I've turned down a girl before."

"That's not it!" Sora cried, squishing his sandwich in his right hand. "She's Kairi's cousin!"

Roxas gulped down chewed apple pieces, feeling the tangy juice run down his throat. "Yeah, so?"

"Gah!" Sora yelped. "Kairi must think I'm the same as you!"

The blond finished the last edible piece of apple and crumpled the zip lock bag. "Well, we ARE cousins, you know."

Tears ran down Sora's cheeks like a rampant river. "You're so harsh..."

Roxas stood up slowly, wiping any extra grass stuck to his behind and plopped his skateboard down, mounting it with one foot. "Besides, if she REALLY liked you, she wouldn't see me and you as the same person."

Sora immediately lit up. "Hey you're right, Roxas!"

Roxas looked back before shoving off on his board. "Of course I am. I always am."

"Yeah," Sora agreed. "Kairi would never see me as a self-centered, arrogant asswi- OW!!"

Roxas heaved onward angrily as he left his brunette cousin behind to massage his bruise on the head. Like activating a personal bubble, Roxas ignored any "girly" contact and proceeded on towards the black gates. There he met his two best friends, Axel and Demyx.

"And then she was like' ZOMG YOU'RE SO EFFING CUTE!' and then I was like 'Really? You don't say' and then-"

"Hey, Axel," Roxas interrupted. "Did anyone ever tell you that you sound like Selphie ?"

"Hush, you," Axel snapped. "At least I strike up a conversation instead of just sitting there like a corpse."

"Well, anyway," Demyx said, relieved that Axel stopped mindlessly babbling. "Did you guys see those new transfers?"

Roxas plopped on his skateboard and held his hands over his knees.

"Oh yeah!" Axel exclaimed excitedly. "The blond and the red head?" A frown then formed upon his face. "But they're sophomores."

"Yeah? So? They're pretty damn hot," Demyx grinned. "Do they honestly have to be in the same age range as you, Axel?"

Axel nodded triumphantly. "Yep. Because younger girls are a bit immature."

"Look who's talking," Roxas mumbled.

"Did you say something Roxas?" Axel angrily asked.

"Nothing. Anyway, I'm going back to the dorms," Roxas informed and shoved off on his skateboard hastily.

"Hey Roxas!" Demyx called. "Could you get my guitar for me?"

Roxas shrugged. "Sure. Give me your key."

Demyx tossed the glimmering item and safely landed in Roxas's left hand. A couple of girls squealed as Roxas made an easy reach for the tossed keys, making him look like a hero. After rolling onward to the dorms building which was located to the right of the main one, he kicked up his skateboard into his arms and stepped inside. A rush of cold air swept past and into the warm atmosphere behind him. The dorms building were very well-kept and neat. On the walls, flyers and information were taped up. A glass case stood against the wall next to a dust-collecting fire extinguisher revealing trophies and pictures of student achievers and goal-getters. His blue eyes glanced at the various photos framed in dark umber oak. Roxas held the key before him, examining the number imprinted on the little plastic slate which read '442'. He sighed deeply and went for the elevator located next to the stairways.

_Dorms are so pointless... Especially if you have to ride an elevator._

After getting in, he pushed the button '4' and waited for the giant cubic room to reach its destination.

**Ding!**

After cruising down the corridors, he reached the designated room and unlocked it forcefully. The room was a complete pig sty. Dirty clothes littered every corner, even the lamp on the desk. Papers scattered themselves on the oak desk while its drawers were left open. The beds were anything BUT made. Roxas could see the imprints of their bodies on the revealing sheets on the mattress as their pillows were tossed here and there. Roxas sighed and began scouting the room for Demyx's guitar. After spotting it being savagely shoved into the closet, he carefully took it out, wondering if Demyx even valued the guitar. After going through the mazes of clothes, he shut the door and locked it securely. Roxas miserably got into the elevator and played the waiting game until the doors opened to reveal the first floor. He rushed out and mounted his skateboard as soon as the concrete hit his foot. Zipping past the idle students, he rolled onwards to where his two best friends lounged. After slowing his speed and coming to a full stop, he tossed the key and handed Demyx his guitar.

"Thanks bud," Demyx said inspecting his instrument.

"I found that thing in your closet," Roxas said. "Is that thing even of any interest to you?"

Demyx hugged his guitar like he was offended by Roxas's words. "Of course! It's my baby!"

Roxas rolled his eyes and mounted his board again and shoved off towards the dorms building one last time. The only thing on his mind was getting in that neatly made bed of his and catching some Z's. His room number was '230' located on the second floor. Roxas started off toward his room as soon as the elevator opened and jammed the key into his lock. After twisting the handle open, a mildly messy room greeted. There were a few articles of clothing lying around, but it wasn't a maze like Axel and Demyx's room. Sports and skateboarding magazines piled atop the tiny dresser located in between the made beds. Before setting foot inside his domain, his pale ears heard rummaging and muffled voices beside his dorm room. He peered at the number plate '232' and noticed the door handle jiggling open.

"I'm going to walk around for a bit. I'll see you later, Kairi."

Roxas's eyes slightly widened a bit after seeing the last person he wanted to see. Apparently, so did the other person after she noticed her "enemy" standing before her.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Naminé asked after closing her dorm door.

Roxas miserably pouted. "Let me guess. That's YOUR dorm room..."

Naminé hesitantly nodded. "Yeah, so?"

Roxas made an offensive grumble and vigorously stomped inside his room.

"You better not tick me off this year," Roxas called before his door completely shut.

Naminé's jaw fell open as she saw the hateful image of Roxas begin to close in as the door slowly shut.

_Are you kidding me?! I'm staying in the room NEXT to this guy?!_

Naminé made an overwhelming growl and marched to the end of the hallway and into the elevator, impatiently waiting to go outside and relieve her anger in the open air.

**End Chapter 1**

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A/N: Well? How was it? Did you like it? A bit different form the previous story, so I hope this will suffice for all of you Roxas/Naminé fans out there! Please review and thanks for reading! Chapter 2 will be up shortly! C8


	2. You Owe Me

A/N: Hey guys!! A very late update for this one also... DDDx But, I'm getting on it! And since finals and vacation is coming up, I'll be sure to write a lot in the next couple of weeks! Anyway, enough of my rambling, its story time! Enjoy!

I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura do.

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**Chapter 2**

"Oh man, this is sweet!"

Roxas massaged his temples irritably while trying to focus on the essay that was due tomorrow. In his mind, he repeated over and over that procrastination was NOT good idea, especially when it comes to English with Mr. Leonhart. Still, his cousin's voice rang clearly in his ear as he kept pacing the room having the biggest goofy grin smacked on his face.

"C'mon Roxas, you can be a little happy!" Sora said energetically.

Roxas slammed his hands down on the oak desk and furiously turned to his cousin.

"Why in the HELL would I be happy? That COUSIN of hers is next door!"

Sora stopped and crossed his arms. "Why are you two even fighting? You've just met her today and you guys are already at it."

"Because she's a big suck-up," Roxas insulted as he turned back to his homework. "I bet you anything that under that warm and cute exterior, there's an evil witch waiting to come out and make you into pie or something."

Sora rolled his eyes and simultaneously shook his head. "You don't even KNOW her all that well, Roxas."

"Her actions are all that I need to know about her," Roxas replied after scribbling down a sentence.

Sora sat down on his bed. "So you were stalking her this entire day?"

A vein popped in his head hidden behind the golden yellow spikes. "No, you idiot. She just stands out from all the other girls."

His brunette cousin pouted as Roxas kept himself busy with the essay. Not replying, Sora's oceanic eyes stared out the dark window haplessly when a knock tapped on the door. Roxas noticed, but continued to work. Sora got up and opened the door, revealing his one-and-only happiness.

"Hi Sora," Kairi greeted in her pajamas. "I just came by to say goodnight!"

Sora swayed dreamily and felt the intense warmth in his body, like it was a drug.

"O-Oh! Thanks Kairi! G-Goodnight!" Sora stuttered hopelessly. Roxas shook his head in disbelief and continued scribbling down useless information.

"I'll see you tomorrow in History!" Kairi bade and walked to her dorm room next to theirs.

"Yeah, goodnight!" Sora agreed merrily and shut the door gently. His head turned toward his cousin who cocked his head, wondering if whatever he wrote down made any sense. Sora strode over to his bed again ad dropped his weight on the bouncy over-sized cushion feeling as though he had ascended to heaven.

"You're so hopeless," Roxas commented in a monotone voice.

"Yeah, I know," Sora agreed hazily as he closed his eyes in pleasure.

Roxas averted his focus back on the paper, reading it to himself to check if there were any grammar mistakes or spelling errors.

"Well, I'm going to bed. G'night Roxas," Sora said before scooching himself under the covers and getting comfy.

"Yeah yeah, goodnight cousin," Roxas said before the lamp that engulfed the room in light flittered away with the push of a switch. The desk light still illuminated, enough for Roxas to see his writing clearly while Sora's area remained dull and dim. The room occasionally remained quiet, excluding the scribbles Roxas's pencil produced onto the oak.

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Meanwhile, on the other side...

"Kairi, stop giggling. I'm trying to concentrate," Naminé said bitterly.

"Come on, Naminé. You can't deny that Sora's a cutie," Kairi giggled.

"He's nice, but I'm not interested in him," Naminé implied abruptly.

"How about his cousin? Roxas was it?" Kairi asked hugging a pillow.

"I couldn't care less about that asshole. He's just plain rude," Naminé sourly answered.

Kairi frowned. "Aww, come on, Naminé. I'm sure he has a reason for it."

"I'm sure he does," Naminé droned as she successfully solved a problem on her homework.

Kairi sighed and laid back. "You're such a killjoy, Nam," said Kairi.

Naminé didn't answer and only kept working on her algebra worksheet review. After finishing her last problem, she laid back with folded arms behind her head.

"Finally, I'm done," Naminé sighed. "I hate solving sides for a triangle."

"Good," Kairi said as she sat right up. "Now we can go to bed."

"No," Naminé corrected. "Now we can get started on our project."

Kairi's jaws dropped open. "Naminé, it's almost ten o' clock! We have a week to finish it!"

Naminé shook her head. "The sooner the better."

"But, Naminé! It's not like it's a big elaborate thing we're supposed to turn in. It's basically cutting, pasting, and coloring! And maybe a tad bit of glitter, but you know what I mean, right?"

Naminé sighed. "Fine, but if we get a failing grade, it's your fault."

"Don't worry," Kairi laughed. "We'll get an awesome score."

Naminé packed her things properly and went over to her bed located next to Kairi's. After slipping into the warm covers, the two said their goodnights and shut off the lamp light. It was quiet for a few moments, when Kairi spoke.

"Hey Naminé," Kairi quietly said, staring at the black ceiling.

"Yeah?" Naminé answered in the same volume.

"Do you think Sora's a nice guy?" Kairi asked timidly.

Naminé nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"Me too," Kairi giggled. "He's cute too."

Naminé nodded again. "Yeah, he is."

At this moment, Kairi smiled a bit too maliciously. Good thing it was dark.

"Roxas is too."

Naminé slowly closed her eyes. "Yeah."

A few moments of silenced passed.

"Wait a minu- WHAT?!"

**Bang bang bang!**

An angry and muffled voice yelled from the other side.

"Shut up, blondie! Some of us are trying to work here!"

Naminé sat up immediately with a scowl on her face. "Why don't you shut up?! You're blond too, idiot!"

Kairi chuckled a bit after Naminé dropped herself on her pillow and turned sideways.

"Sorry Nam," Kairi said. "I didn't mean for you to get yelled at."

"Hmph. It's fine," Naminé sourly replied. "It's not you who makes me angry."

Kairi smiled half-heartedly and pulled the covers under her chin.

"Goodnight, Naminé."

Naminé closed her eyes.

"Goodnight, Kairi."

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Naminé's shoulders flinched violently as the alarm clock obnoxiously rang. Her exposed arm helplessly wandered around the tiny desktop for the annoying thing. Kairi mumbled in her sleep and turned over, ignoring the sound of ear-ringing beeps. Naminé came in touch with the cold surface of a plump button and vigorously slammed her palm on it. Mustering up the energy, her pale, skinny arms pushed against the mattress hoisting her up with her belly faced down. Her sleepily eyes blinked slowly at the identical face imprint staring right back at her on her fluffed pillow. Naminé then reverted her attention to a Kairi sleeping like a rock.

"Hey..." Naminé dizzily called.

Kairi didn't respond.

"Hey, Kairi..." Naminé called again.

Still, her cousin remained motionless. Naminé dropped her head and prepared for the rushing coldness of the room to reach her legs as soon as they were climbing out of the thick blankets. Out of nowhere, a very faint thud could be heard somewhere. Naminé ignored it and, before making any movements, she rubbed her eyes wearily and trumped over to Kairi's bedside. She placed a hand on her cousin's petite shoulders and began moving her back and forth gently.

"Kairi," Naminé yawned, yet with more liveliness added.

Kairi groaned and lifted her head slowly, blinking her eyes hesitantly.

"...Nghuh?" Kairi replied.

Naminé gave a pat to the shoulder. "Time to wake up, sleepy head."

Kairi dropped her auburn head back down on the pillow and pulled the covers over her chin. "Just five more minutes."

"No way," Naminé retorted with a tad more energy. "Last time you said that, you didn't walk up for another half an hour."

Kairi moaned incisively. "Fine fine, I'm up."

Naminé giggled a bit as Kairi made unsuccessful attempts to actually hoist herself up. Naminé stretched her arms out wide and felt the blood getting pumped in her body. The energy slowly made its way in as she got her uniform ready. Kairi got to her feet and sleepily walked to where Naminé stood in front of the closet and grabbed one of her spare uniforms.

"Wanna go in the shower first?" Naminé asked as she laid out her uniform before her on her unmade bed.

"Naw, you go ahead. I still have to unpack a bit," Kairi insisted as her hands pulled out a large rolling suitcase.

Naminé nodded to her cousin and slung a white towel over her shoulder while her feet carried her across the room and into the shower.

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The sky outside only showed as a faint orange seeping through the blinds of the huge window. Nothing was stirring, well except for one thing.

**Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!**

Roxas clumsily jerked out of his bed and made a very loud thump against the carpet. The sleepiness quickly waned away as his automatic reaction to rub his head activated. Sora grumbled in his sleep and creaked open his eyes to find his cousin on the floor massaging his blond locks that were smashed against his head.

"Pfft," Sora unexpectedly chuckled. "You're really not a morning-person are you...?"

"Shut up," Roxas growled lowly. "I hate that damn alarm clock. It's too loud."

Sora sat up and stretched his arms. "Yeah yeah. I'm going to take a shower."

Roxas got up hesitantly. "No way. You hogged the shower all that morning yesterday. It's my turn to go first."

The spiked brunette sighed. "Well hurry up. I got something to do in about an hour."

Roxas pulled a grey towel from the closet shelf and sneered at his cousin. "What? You meeting up Kairi or something?"

Sora lazily walked over to the over-sized drawers and pulled out a fresh change of uniform from the forcefully pulled shelf. "As a matter of fact, yes. I offered to show her around the school today before class starts. So hurry up and get that stinky ass of your cleaned so my stinky ass can sparkle and shine."

After his cousin's comment, Roxas strut over to the bathroom and twisted the metal handle of the shower to warm as he looked at his sloppy image in the large mirror, waiting impatiently for the running water to steam.

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Naminé and Kairi stepped outside into the open campus, taking in the fresh air and nature's atmosphere. Naminé's blue eyes traced the main building, then to their dorm building and suddenly became very curious.

"Hey, Kairi. How come the dorms are intermixed? Isn't that kind of illegal?"

Kairi shrugged. "I'm guessing the school doesn't have enough funds for constructing another dorm building. And I'm kind of certain that it's not illegal around Destiny Islands as long there's a patrol monitor or something. Why, do you feel uncomfortable?"

"Kind of," Naminé replied half-heartedly. "I mean, we're sleeping in a room next to guys we don't even know."

Kairi giggled. "Don't worry, Naminé. The schools and dorm hallways are heavily monitored by cameras. Trust me, they're everywhere."

Naminé's blue irises scanned the buildings, hopefully trying to see through the pasty walls and into the corridors and hallways to see if Kairi's prediction was true. Alas, the color and density of the barrier were too much for her eyes and looked back at her sister.

"So, Kairi," Naminé began. "Why are we waiting out in the front so early? Class doesn't start for another hour, we could still be sleeping."

A brilliant smile formed across the auburn's lips. "Well, I'm waiting for someone."

Naminé shook her head at her cousin's lack of ability to conceal the truth. "Would that someone happen to be Sora?"

"Maybe," Kairi smiled. "He'll be showing me around the school and we'll be hanging out until the bell rings. Do you want to come?"

The blonde's head drooped miserably. "If it was just you and Sora, then why did you wake me up?"

A silent breeze swished by.

"I just though maybe you and Roxas would like to accompany us!"

Naminé's jaws immediately dropped for the floor as her eyes began to threaten to fall out of its sockets.

"Kai, are you kidding?!" she exclaimed.

Kairi blinked blankly. "What? Would you guys rather go by yourselves?"

"No!" Naminé scowled. "Being alone with that guy is like locking yourself up with a dog with rabies! Besides, who said I wanted to go with him?"

Kairi bulged her lower lip. "Awww, come on, Nam. Why not use this chance to get to know him? Who knows, maybe you guys could become friends!"

A crinkled nose was only the response. "No way!"

Naminé began her first step back to the dorms. "I'm going back to our dorm. See ya."

Delicate and frail was the small frown placed upon Kairi's face as her eyes witnessed Naminé's departure during the wait for her 'tourist-guide'.

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Roxas trumped sluggishly into the elevator with his cousin and jammed a finger to the first floor button. His skateboard dropped loudly on the floor with one foot mounted on it.

"Keep doing that and you'll break the whole elevator," Sora informed nonchalantly as the sliding metallic doors closed.

Roxas said nothing as the pair felt themselves descending down the building.

"Okay, when we get to Kairi, I want you to be on your best behavior, got it?" Sora asked, breaking the silence.

"Okay _mom._ You don't have to worry, since I'm not going to be around to screw up your date with destiny," Roxas jeered.

"Good," Sora nodded. "Hey, maybe you can go find Naminé and-"

"Don't even think about it," Roxas interrupted rudely. "I'm not meeting that brat up. I'm going straight to the park."

His brunette cousin shrugged. "Okay, but be careful. I don't want to have to carry you back with a messed up leg."

**Ding!**

The doors slid open to reveal a peaceful first floor. Roxas shoved off immediately and looked back at his cousin.

"Good luck," he called as he turned a corner. Sora smirked and shook his head, following after at walking pace.

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Naminé reached the steps of the dorm building, when she felt agitation seeping in.

_What will I do when I get to our dorm? I'm fully awake now!_

Her eyes scanned the area for anyone around, but only her cousin remained in the far distance still waiting for Sora. The sky was a gradient of soft orange to a light blue with fluffed clouds scattered across the open.

_I guess I'll take advantage of the hour and look around the islands a bit._

Naminé made a sharp turn toward the building gates and walked on casually.

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The breeze swam past his golden spikes as his shabby but trusted skateboard took him along the smooth dirt path. His large hands were shoved in his pockets while his checkered bracelet rested on his wrist. The sun was just above the beautiful ocean, creating a blue to orange gradient in the sky. Far back in the East, the stars twinkled out of sight from last night and new clouds drifted onward into the new day. Roxas's eyes focused intently at the path before him, avoiding morning passersby at incredible speed. Once reaching the black gates to the park, he quickly dismounted and swung over the barrier and into the abstract formed park. There were large humps here, several railings there, and upside-down dome shaped craters in the middle. To give the park a look of "modern teen", graffiti writings were everywhere in vibrant colors. Roxas took a quick scan around the area, finding that only him occupied the section. A loud thunk echoed across the park as Roxas mounted his skateboard and shoved off to perform his daily habits.

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Naminé had just looking through stores that were preparing for the new day while staring at the beautiful ocean that held up the sun. Her plaid uniform danced lightly in the small sea breeze as he eyes absorbed everything in its path. Only the word "beautiful" could be repeated in her mind again and again as the island scenery engulfed her in foreign warmth. Her hands grazed passed the black gates of what seemed like a park as her eyes scanned the playgrounds and fields. Green grass copied the ocean while the trees swayed gracefully with their leaves departing one by one from the branches. This place was, indeed, beautiful.

**Clank! Sccccrrrrsshhhhh!!!!!**

Naminé lifted a brow at the awkward noise she had just heard and began looking around for the source.

**Sccccrrrrsshhhhh!!!!! Clank! Thud!**

"Ow! Crap!"

Naminé nearly jumped ten feet in the air as the voice caused birds to flitter out of the nearby tree. Her heart gave a skip as she heard more noises and found that this person was nearby. She peered over the gates, hoisting herself up a bit to see who was causing such a commotion at such a time in the morning. Unfortunately, the bushels and trees were thick and heavy, only sparing a blurred glance for her. She muttered to herself angrily and managed to crawl over without her skirt flying up to reveal more than she needs to. After landing on the soft grass as ninja-like as she could, she peered behind the large tree to find a boundless skate park. The formation made her eyes dizzy as she inspected every curved corner and every weirdly-shaped ledge that seemed to have traces of its material to be scraped off. Suddenly, a fast blur zoomed past her eyes. Naminé followed it quickly when it disappeared into the ground. Her impatience got the better of her as she scrambled up the tree she hide behind and sat on a supporting branch, shielded by a thing layer of leaves. Being very still and quiet, she held her breath for the figure to come out zooming again. A loud rolling sound could be heard, and the figure swooped out, like he was flying in the air. Naminé's blue eyes grew wide as she knew the familiar face. It was Roxas, grasping the side of his skateboard in the air with his feet attached to it. His expression seemed determined and concentrated, almost "cool" like. He landed back in the upside-down dome and proceeded to circle around to gather speed. With another trick of grinding against the sides, Roxas made another trip around the curved surface and sped back up to normal ground. Naminé watched intently as to what kind of trick he'll do next, but to her slight depression, Roxas dismounted one foot and ruffled his spikes angrily.

"Damn it! I gotta do it right this time!" he angrily told him self and shoved off rampantly to a descending ledge. His position crouched a little, gaining more momentum and made a dare-devil flip onto the side and started to grind. At first, he seemed perfectly stable and such, but near the end of the ledge, he lost balance and fell on his side with his skateboard clumsily thunking near him. He got up slowly and pounded the ground with the fist bearing two rings, one white and one black. His teeth clenched angrily as he stared at his feet lying before him. Naminé looked hypnotizing at him, feeling a sort of pity lurking in slowly. Roxas slowly got up and flipped the skateboard right side up, shoving off of it again. He sped to his last starting position and took a deep breath before attempting the trick again. His pose was the same, his eyes tensed in concentration and focus as he stared at the end of the ledge with determination. His legs started to wobble, and found himself struggling to maintain balance. Naminé covered her mouth preparing for the impact from above the tree.

**Thud!**

Roxas lay there, clutching his leg as he cringed with pain. Naminé noticed his expression and seemed to expect tears to leak out, but alas, Roxas refused to cry. Roxas's arms supported himself, breathing deeply as beads of sweat dropped on the side of his face. After putting his healthy leg down first, he put his injured foot after it, causing him to tilt rapidly and stagger. He bent his damaged leg a bit, relieving some of the pain, but not all of it. His eyes found his skateboard turned sideways and tried walking normally to it. The pain surged through his leg as he fell back on his healthy knee, clutching his thigh. Without thinking, Naminé gasped loudly, causing Roxas to perk up and look around cautiously.

"Who's there?" he asked loudly, resonating throughout the park.

Naminé clamped her mouth shut with her tiny hands and remained quiet and still.

**Crreeeaakkk...**

Roxas looked fully alert now and stood up, limping his injured foot.

"Who's there?!" he asked again, loudly.

Naminé panicked and found the source of creaking from the branch. It was moments away before falling off it's hinges.

**Crreeeaakkk...**

Roxas looked over in Naminé's direction, but didn't seem aware that she was up there since the leaves covered her terrified image. He limped over, crossing into the grassy patch and stopped in front of the bushes. Naminé's eyes grew wide as she saw Roxas's image staring right back at her.

"Is someone up there?" he asked.

No response, just more creaking, when suddenly...

**CRACK!**

"Eyyyaahhh!!!"

**THUD!**

Roxas jumped back and limped backwards immediately after seeing a giant branch collapse on the ground, along with a person. Leaves jumped up from the ground after the impact, lazily settling in a different position. Roxas walked awkwardly closer, peering over the bushes to see who had just fallen. His expression turned into utter disbelief as Naminé sat there rubbing her back and wincing slightly. She peered up at a pissed off Roxas and immediately stopped her action.

"U-Uh, hi!" Naminé gulped, feeling an arrow piercing through those cold blue eyes of his.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded angrily.

Naminé peered down at the branch that snapped in half below her. "Uh... tree climbing...?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Great, so now you're stalking me. Do me a favor and get lost."

Naminé rose to her feet and scowled," I wasn't STALKING you!"

He glared back at her. "Then what the hell were you doing up in that tree?!"

"Like I said," Naminé informed, crossing her arms. "I was tree climbing."

Roxas lifted a brow before turning back to get his skateboard. "You're weird."

"Same goes to you," Naminé said sticking out a tongue.

"At least I don't go around stalking people," Roxas casually said, keeping his position.

Naminé growled lowly. "I TOLD you. I wasn't STALKING you! Who'd wanna stalk YOU?"

Roxas shook his head and started limping back to his skateboard. "Get lost. I don't ever wanna see your face again."

The blond female lessened her angry expression as she witnessed Roxas limping to his prized possession. "But you're hurt. How are you going to get to class on time? You can't even ride your skateboard anymore with that leg."

Roxas picked up his board and held it in his arms. "What are you, a nurse? Don't worry about it and mind your own business."

"No," Naminé bluntly responded. "You need help."

"No," Roxas responded in the same way. "I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

Okay, CLEARLY this was not going anywhere.

Naminé massaged her temples irritably. "Why are you so stubborn?"

Roxas stood up straight. "Why are YOU?"

Naminé felt a nuclear explosion erupting in her head. "Look, how about we make a deal?"

His expression stayed stoic. "A deal...? What kind?"

Naminé pointed to Roxas. "If you can prove to me that you can walk properly without falling like an idiot, I'll leave and never speak to you again. But if you CAN'T, you'll just have to put up with me helping you to school."

Roxas scrunched his brows in a "what the hell?" expression. "Why are you so out to help me?"

Naminé proudly stood up straight with a beaming smile. "I just can't leave someone who's hurt!"

_Talk about super hero cliché-ish._

Roxas rubbed his spikes in aggravation. "Fine. I'll show you."

Naminé crossed her arms, eyeing Roxas who began to straighten himself up. Without a second's hesitation, he strutted forward, limping on his foot when a sharp pain struck his thigh. He almost fell forward, when a force was preventing him from doing so. Her peered over his shoulder, seeing Naminé stare blatantly at him with her arms supporting his back and chest.

"Hmph, I told you," she quietly smirked. Roxas's eyes widened at how close their faces were.

Roxas gulped, as if the words he meant to say crashed together in his throat, causing a clog.

Naminé eyed him suspiciously. "What?"

Roxas put on a scowl and turned the other way. "Nothing. You win."

Smiling triumphantly, Naminé hauled Roxas's arm over her shoulders and supported his chest. It took a while for Roxas to adjust to this weird _feeling_ as the two slowly walked out of the park and on the dirt path back to school. The skateboard made his arm ache a bit as he held it firmly on the other side of his body. Naminé concentrated on getting to school ten minutes before the bell would ring so she could help him get to the Nurse's Office. Avoiding stares and looks, Naminé looked back at Roxas, who seemed like he was sleeping. She bulged her lip and shook him a bit.

"You better not be sleeping on me," she growled.

Roxas looked at her through one eye that was half open. "Calm down, I'm not."

"Good," Naminé said. "You're already heavy as it is."

Roxas made a disgustingly angry face. "At least I don't bring a whole buffet into my dorm room like you did last night."

Naminé scowled. "It wasn't a buffet! It was a sandwich, a salad, a juice box, and a protein bar."

Roxas lazily took interest in a nearby tree. "Sounds like a buffet to me."

"Call it what you want, I was hungry," Naminé scoffed, still helping him walk.

Sure enough, Roxas took her words and remained silent, insulting her in his mind as she kept her support and walked steadily to school. Once reaching the gates, they were only welcomed by stares and whispering. Roxas sighed deeply, expecting something like this to happen. Naminé looked around dumbly, wondering why everyone was acting strange toward their arrival.

"What's everyone whispering about...?" she quietly asked.

"You," Roxas blatantly replied. "And me."

Naminé looked at him, refusing to stop walking ahead. "Why? What's wrong with us?"

"You sure are clueless," Roxas mocked lazily.

"I am not!" Naminé said, and then quickly regret saying that, since she WAS clueless about their current situation. "Sooo, why are they staring again?"

Roxas hung his head low, feeling agitation running in his head. "They're staring at us because I never let someone help me walk, ESPECIALLY a girl."

Naminé lifted a brow and started staring at those who whispered and looked. "I wonder what they're whispering about us."

Roxas's frown grew wider. "Probably some stupid rumor."

Well that didn't stop Naminé's curiosity. She decided to shrug it off and continued to help Roxas up the steps of the main building. Before reaching the double doors, two voices called Roxas's name from behind.

"Roxas! Wait up, bud!" Axel called, panting as he reached the two. Demyx followed behind, wiping little sweat from his forehead.

"What is it?" Roxas asked, peering over his shoulder. Naminé stopped and allowed the conversation to go on between the boys.

"What happened? Did you bust your leg again?" Demyx asked, looking over at Naminé. "Oh, hi there, I'm Demyx!"

Naminé smiled warmly and nodded since both of her hands were too occupied for a handshake. "It's nice to meet you, Demyx. I'm Naminé."

Axel leaned in toward Roxas's ear and whispered," Dude! Who's the hot blond?"

Roxas made a disgusted face. "You're kidding, right?"

Axel shook his head enthusiastically and decided to turn his attention to Naminé.

"Nice to meet ya, Naminé!" Axel grinned. "My name's Axel!"

Naminé giggled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Axel."

"So, did our little buddy bust his leg again while skateboarding?" Axel asked, grinning like a Cheshire cat at Roxas, who gave him a death glare.

"Yeah, I did," Roxas intervened. "Now go away, I'm going to the Nurse's Office."

Demyx laughed. "Hey Naminé, do you mind if we take him from here? Wouldn't want to keep you from doing any business."

Naminé bit her lip. "Are you sure?"

Axel nodded happily. "Of course, my dear! Roxas is our best buddy after all!"

Roxas felt like chopped meat.

"Okay, thank you very much," Naminé said, handing Roxas's support to Axel and Demyx.

"No problem, hun. You just go on and get to class before the bell rings. We'll take it from here," Axel reassured and waved goodbye to Naminé with his free hand. After she disappeared beyond the crowd, Axel and Demyx decided to use this time to torture their friend a bit. After opening the double doors and walking down the hall, Demyx started the conversation.

"She's really cute," he said out of the blue.

"Sure is," Axel agreed. "Right Roxas?"

He remained silent, though his face clearly looked as though he wanted to scream at them.

"I wonder if she has a boyfriend," Axel said, thinking to himself.

"I thought you don't like girls younger than you are," said Demyx.

"She may be an exception," Axel smiled.

"You both are sick," Roxas spat.

Once reaching the Nurse's Office, Demyx opened the door to reveal a very white looking room with a desk and a few posters. Seated at the desk was a very attracting lady with brown hair tied in a ponytail. Her emerald eyes gave them attention as her smile gave them reassurance.

"Another sprained leg, Roxas?" she quietly asked.

He nodded sheepishly. "Yes, Mrs. Gainsborough."

"Sorry Aerith, little humpty dumpty here doesn't know how to stay on a wall," Demyx chuckled, earning a deadly glare from the blond sophomore.

Mrs. Gainsborough giggled. "That's quite alright, Demyx. Go ahead and sit Roxas on the bed. I'll take it form here."

The three wobbled over to the bed and let the blond sit comfortably on the side sighing to himself. Axel and Demyx casually waved good-bye, leaving a "You be a good boy now!" comment as they strolled out the door. Aerith chuckled lightly and turned her soft attention to Roxas.

"Alright, where does it hurt exactly?" she asked, rolling her chair over to him.

"Here," Roxas said, feeling his whole thigh region.

Aerith nodded and held a hand up to the side of her mouth while staring at another white door.

"Zack!" she cried. "Could you come in here and do something for me?"

A man with porcupine, jet black hair poked his head through the door with a small smirk.

"Sure. What can I do?" he asked brightly.

Aerith scooted out of the way to reveal Roxas, who stared at him like he was familiar.

_I wouldn't be surprised if Zack was Axel's brother._

"Hey Zack," Roxas greeted nonchalantly.

Zack strode over and immediately peered over at his dirty leg.

"Another busted leg...?" he droned.

Roxas smirked lazily and nodded.

Zack sighed while scratching his cheek. "You just love to get in my way, don't you?"

Roxas laughed while clutching his stomach. Aerith sat on the side, cocking her head towards her companion. "Get in your way of what?"

Zack chuckled nervously, ignoring the spews of laughter. "N-Nothing, Aerith! Anyway, I'll get right on this trouble-maker. Go ahead and relax."

Aerith smiled reassuringly. "Thank you, Zack. I'll be sure to bring some food for you later." She proceeded into the white door Zack just came from, shutting it quietly. Zack turned back to his "patient" and gave a smug frown.

"You owe me," threatened Zack as he examined the smirking blonde's thigh region.

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Naminé continued on to class, being greeted by several people. She and her sister, Kairi, made quite a few friends. There was Pence, an amazing photographer with a headband, making his raven hair look like a palm tree. Olette, a very smart and charming girl with brown wavy hair who always talks about school topics. Hayner, a cool, upright guy with slicked blond hair and intense chocolate eyes who obviously tell the looker that "nothing brings me down". Selphie, a cheerful and slightly hyper girl, she manages to bring the life of the party, constantly talking about the hottest things and being very opinionated. Last but not least, there was Riku, a silver-haired hunk who's aquamarine eyes are to die for, also a very good friend of Sora's. Naminé smiled to herself, reciting the names of her new friends in her head as the teacher droned on about the anatomy of Chocobos. A sketchbook lay out before her, waiting for its blank space to be filled with her glorious art. Making sure that Mr. Valentine was still babbling on about the structure of Chocobo feet, Naminé rummaged through her pencil case quietly and pulled out a delicate pencil. In instant, she started sketching out her colorful mind before her. A sketch here, a squiggle there, and a curve in every direction, Naminé had effortlessly drawn a picture of Selphie's face. She smiled at her work, applauding of the emotion that correctly displayed Selphie's face. Feeling confident, she started to draw other pictures of her friends, each in a random spot and revealing their colorful personalities through their expressions. A giggle let out as Naminé had just finished doing a small doodle of Sora and Kairi smiling at each other.

"Something funny, miss Naminé?" Mr. Valentine sternly asked.

Naminé perked up, feeling eyes stare at her. "N-No, Mr. Valentine. I apologize for interrupting."

Mr. Valentine nodded and went back to his lecture, moving on to the basic functions of the wings when the door swung open. Mr. Valentine's eyes narrowed in on Roxas as he walked over slowly with a note. His pale hands swiped it and read it quickly, crushing it in his palm with an annoyed side look at the blond student.

"How many times must you miss the first thirty minutes of my class, Roxas...?" he gritted through his teeth, piercing him with blood-red eyes.

"Sorry, Vincent. I had to do it today. Practice makes perfect, right?" he asked lightly.

"It's Mr. Valentine to you. Go and sit down, you'll have to copy notes from someone else," said Mr. Valentine as he tossed the slip into the waste basket. Roxas slowly walked forward, unsuccessfully covering his slight limp and plopped himself on his desk near the wall. He irritably pulled out his books and binders when he noticed a poorly torn piece of paper folded in four ways laying on his desk. Making sure Mr. Valentine wasn't looking his way, he quietly straightened out the note and read it in his head.

_**You owe me.**_

_**Naminé**_

Roxas rolled his head at his deja vu as he took out a pencil and scribbled a response below it. He passed it on, seeing the paper trail to the original receiver. Naminé unfolded the paper and read:

_**Fine, but I need your notes for class first.**_

_**P.S. You're an idiot and I still hate you.**_

_**Roxas**_

Naminé scowled at the note and stuck out a tongue at him from the distance, seeing his devilish smirk. Roxas smiled triumphantly to himself, taking in great pleasure as he saw Naminé angrily scribble something and down forcefully shoving it to the nearest person. It traveled again, but it was soon delayed when a pissed of Mr. Valentine seized it in his bony hands and scanned it with his demonic eyes. He swiftly turned an eye to Naminé, then on Roxas. The stares of the classroom made the two utterly embarrassed.

"So Roxas is an overgrown baby that still needs to learn how to walk properly, eh Naminé?" he asked sternly out loud. The class burst out in laughter as she shrunk in her seat. Roxas had his jaw opened with the most terrifying look of shock in his face. Mr. Valentine swished around to the front of the class, having his long black hair flow behind him gracefully. Slamming his hands on his desk and pushing his glasses to the bridge of his nose, he sternly looked at the two.

"As punishment for you two, I require a full page report and a poster displaying the parts and functions of the basic Chocobo. You two will be working together on it and I expect it no later than next Monday. Do I make myself clear?"

The two slowly nodded simultaneously.

"Yes, Mr. Valentine..."

**End Chapter 2**

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A/N: Well? How was it? Did you like it? xD It's a lot longer than the last one! And a lot kinda happens here, but I'm pleased with it! I wonder how the two will cooperate with each other... You wonder too? Then find out next chapter! Please review and thanks for reading! C8


	3. Seeking Peace

A/N: Hi guys! Dx Sorry about the really long updates...Wow, my chapters are getting a bit longer than **Who Needs Love?** Well anyway, enough of my ramblings. Enjoy!

I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura do.

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**Chapter 3**

**Pop!**

Axel brought up the can to his parsed lips and began chugging the drink, feeling the slight sting of cola in his throat. Demyx plucked a few strings from his guitar, checking for its pitch. Sora sat beside Axel humming to a tune that played loudly in his earphones, oblivious to the activities around him as lunch went its merry way, that is, until a certain grumpy blond limped up. Roxas slammed his backpack down, loud enough for Sora to get his attention, and dropped on the healthy grass patch miserably.

"What's eating you?" Axel said after a loud belch, making Demyx cover his nose.

"Don't ask," Roxas murderously replied as he massaged his temples.

"Already did," Sora said, plucking out one of his earphones.

Roxas started to mumble angrily as he went for his backpack and started to rummage through it. The three looked at each other in confusion when the furious blond savagely shoved a paper in their faces. Axel took it and began to read, along with Sora and Demyx:

**Assignment: The Chocobo Anatomy**

**Teacher: Vincent Valentine**

**Group: Roxas, Naminé**

**Due Date: xx/xx/xx**

**Requirements: You are required to...**

Axel peered over the paper.

"You mean you're paired up with the blond cutie we just met today?" he asked.

Roxas gritted his teeth. "She's not cute. And yes, unfortunately, God hates me enough to pair me with the daughter of the devil."

"C'mon Roxas," Sora laughed, slightly slugging his cousin on the arm. "She's not THAT bad. From what I heard from these two, she generously helped you get to school on time with your busted leg."

Axel and Demyx grinned at each other. Roxas, of course, was more ticked off than ever.

"You two can never keep your big mouths shut," Roxas lowly commented, crossing his arms.

"Calm down, buddy. We only told Sora, since he's your favorite cousin and was busy showing his girlfriend around the school," Demyx chuckled, hoping to ease the anger radiating from his blond friend.

"Doesn't matter," Roxas immediately responded. "You know how much I hate rumors spreading around."

After shuffling through his bag for a brown paper bagged lunch, he snatched an apple from inside and started chewing like a horse as his three friends began reading the requirements of the paper.

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"Oh my gosh, no way!"

Naminé rubbed her ear as the intensity of the volume got the better of her.

"Selphie, please lower your voice just a teensy weensy bit," Naminé insisted, pinching her thumb and index finger together.

As a result, Selphie covered her mouth and turned a shade of pink as Olette and Kairi chuckled lightly.

"But that's really cool!" Selphie excitedly commented. "I can't believe you got him as your partner!"

Kairi walked over to the side of the dorm room to sit at the window, watching whatever activity went on in the front or the fields on the side. Selphie lay on her belly on Naminé neatly made bed as Olette sat Indian-style on Kairi's. Brushing her blond locks numerous times, Naminé set the brush down on the small bed-side table.

"I don't really see what's so great about Roxas," she frowned.

Selphie rolled her eyes. "Come on, Naminé! You CAN'T say he's not a cutie!"

"Oh yes I can," Naminé nodded as-a-matter-of-fact-ly.

"Trust me, she can," Kairi added before staring back out at the window.

"Besides, aren't you still stuck on Irvine?" Olette asked, arching an eyebrow.

Naminé slid out the small shelf from the mini table and receded a sketchbook with a soft maroon covering and a graphite pencil.

"Of course! I'll always love my snooky wooky," Selphie cooed. "I'm just proving a point about Roxas!"

"I don't think your point is helping," Kairi laughed nervously as she spotted Sora in the fields with Roxas and Riku. It seemed apparent that they were sparring with wooden swords or something of the sort. "Whoa, that's really cool!"

"What is?" Selphie asked as she and Olette got off the beds simultaneously and strode over.

"Oh yeah. Sora, Riku, and Roxas always use the field to practice sparring after hours," Olette informed.

Naminé closely listened as she kept staring at the blank page before her and continuously tapping her pencil.

"What for?" Kairi asked, amazed at Sora's speed and strength.

Olette shrugged. "From what I heard from Hayner, they've always had this fascination with swords when they were little."

"That's so awesome!" Selphie squealed as she saw the tiny image of Riku dodge an attack Roxas made.

Naminé sighed deeply and set her art things aside and decided to join in on what they were looking at. Her blue eyes narrowed a bit as she made out the tiny figures of Riku, Sora, and Roxas on the field. Apparently, skateboarding wasn't Roxas's only hobby. While Sora and Riku held one wooden sword, Roxas held two.

"Roxas is holding two," Naminé said.

Kairi nodded. "That's pretty amazing. What amazes me the most is that Riku and Sora can keep up with him."

Naminé watched with awe at the speed and grace the three showed in their practice. At their level, their images were nothing but tiny figures, but it was still amazing to watch. Her blue irises followed each one, switching to another on occasions, but what she watched the most, was the blond two-sword wielder. For some reason, Naminé could see his face clearly, each emotion he displayed after thrusting a sword or doing a double slash.

"Naminé...?"

Naminé kept her ground and kept staring at Roxas's movements. Her eyes grew wide as he made the perfect stance after parrying an attack dealt by both Riku and Sora.

"Helloo, Naminé?"

"Huh? What?" Naminé asked, looking at whoever called her name.

For some reason, Selphie held onto a huge smirk while Olette and Kairi smiled warmly.

"Who were you looking at?' Selphie asked, showing her pearly whites.

"Oh, I was just looking at the three," Naminé pointed obliviously.

"Really now...? You stared pretty long for looking at three of them," Selphie rebounded smoothly.

"It's amazing! How could I NOT stare?" Naminé asked incredulously.

Selphie shook her head. "Tsk tsk tsk. Naminé Naminé Naminé. Your eyes give it all away."

Her gentle hands reached just below her cheek. "My eyes...?"

"You were looking at Roxas, weren't you?" Olette giggled.

An arrow struck right through Naminé's back as her eyes threatened to fall out of their sockets.

"H-Huh? Where'd that come from?" she asked loudly.

"You eyes went all big when Roxas got out of that attack from Riku and Sora," Kairi inputted, making circles over her eyes with her fingers.

"I was amazed! Can I not be amazed?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"It's not only that," Selphie continued. "But your eye movement. It was following Roxas dead on."

Naminé stomped her foot. "I-It was not!"

The three laughed at the furious blond of how her cheeks were like a china doll. Naminé huffed and went over to where her sketchbook lay contemporarily forgotten. Picking it up roughly, she made her way to the door, twisting the door handle angrily.

"I'm going out. I'll see you guys later," Naminé said and strode out without another word.

The three looked to each other, giving smiles to each other before indulging themselves into the girly girl things that would go on for hours.

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Naminé stormed down the hallways, waited impatiently into the elevator, and descended outside where a few students lay blissfully on the grass patch or under a healthy tree. School was over, and that meant time to relax. The warm air swooshed by on occasions, making Naminé's hair dance a top her head. After walking around a bit to look for a free space, she finally found one under a beautiful green tree with bountiful leaves on the lively grass. She sat herself down and began to feel idiotic from her action of just storming out of the dorm room after something so petty was said. Naminé sighed to herself and lifted the maroon cover, revealing sketches, gesture drawings, fun doodles, and real sceneries. She smiled to herself, feeling very good about herself of how much she had improved. As a blank page met her eyes, she immediately drew up her pencil and placed it in the middle of the page, waiting for some inspiration to kick in. Her mind kept replaying the image where Roxas was in that stance. She thought to herself, thinking it wasn't such a bad idea to sketch it out. After all, the pose showed movement and his facial expression brought it all together. With an approving nod, her graphite began to slide across the blank page. Her eyes intently watched over her media as it formed the basic structure of the pose. Before her, a sparring Roxas was coming back to life on that page as she lightly shaded in the shadow and accentuated his eyes.

_His eyes..._

They were very intense and focused, just like today, when he was skateboarding. Naminé always seemed to catch his most focused moments, not that it was a bad thing. She didn't mind at all, but she would've liked to see other emotion he held rather than that rude and cold face he always wore. Even though her real vision of Roxas was small from her height, she imagined how he would look in that same exact stance from eye level. It pleased her at how well the image was turning out after adding in some blades of grass and a puff of clouds in the background. After a satisfying sigh, she held it out before her, smiling triumphantly at the battle-stance Roxas scribbled on her page.

"For crissake, you ARE a stalker..."

Naminé nearly sky-rocketed from her position and held her drawing tightly to her bosom as she whirled her head around to the person brave enough to come from behind her. A pout immediately formed her face as Roxas took a chug form his water bottle and wiped his face of sweat with a towel dangling from his shoulders.

"D-Don't do that!" Naminé exclaimed.

"Why are you drawing me anyways?" he blatantly asked.

_Crap, he saw it???_

"I-I just liked your pose, so I drew it!" she stammered nervously.

"Whatever," Roxas huffed after screwing on the cap. "Let me see."

"No!" Naminé rejected immediately. "G-Go away!"

Why Naminé was stuttering was totally beyond her. It POSSIBLY can't have something to do with Roxas's white beater sticking oh so tightly around his chest! Nope, not possible! Without a warning, Roxas made a quick grab for the sketch book and began flipping through the pages.

_Hm, these are pretty good..._

It took a moment for Naminé to realize that her prized possession was now in the hands of the villain and began making a desperate reach for it.

"Give it back!!" she whined as she flailed for her sketchbook.

Roxas held it high before her while still getting a good glimpse of her sketches and doodles.

"Nope," he said, when Naminé made a fatal attempt to lunge at him and pin him to the ground. It failed, however, and she landed belly first on the grass. Not waiting for a chance, Roxas took the initiative to sit himself on her back and go through her sketchbook.

"Ack!! Get off you idiot!" she wailed as she tried to struggle against his weight.

"Not until I see it," he replied, flipping another page.

"I hate you!" she cried, feeling it useless to struggle against his weight.

"Likewise..." Roxas nonchalantly replied.

Naminé plopped her head on the floor along with her tired hands, sighing deeply and feeling humiliated as Roxas eyed her piece of work. What amazed her was that Roxas was heavy, but not enough to restrain her from breathing.

"How come you're not crushing me to death?" Naminé asked offensively as she tried to twist her body to face him.

"I'm controlling my weight," he replied, flipping another page. "Unless you want me to drop all of my weight and suffocate you of air."

Naminé plopped back on the grass, not saying anything and bearing the silent opinions Roxas gave as she heard each page being flipped. Roxas turned the next page, stopping at his own image in a stance.

_Wow, this is really good. This girl knows how to draw._

He examined every detail, every line that formed his body, and especially, his face. She got his expression down pretty well. His eye brows lifted in amazement of Naminé's talent and shut the sketchbook. Naminé turned to him again with hopeful eyes.

"You done?" she asked hurriedly.

"Yup," he said, turning the sketchbook over boredly.

"Great. Can you get off now?" Naminé asked irritably.

"What's the magic word?" he said, grinning at her.

Naminé gritted her teeth, wishing she had the strength to pull the Earth from under her and hurl it at Roxas's head.

_She's fun to annoy..._

"Please...?" Naminé growled viciously.

Roxas got up and shifted his shoulders a bit as Naminé rose from the ground and swiped any grass on her front.

"Okay," Naminé said and turning to Roxas, making a reach for her sketchbook. Roxas, once again, lifted it out of her range.

"What's the magic word?" he asked again, lifting a brow.

Shooting invisible daggers in his eyes, Naminé gritted her teeth.

"PLEASE...?" she emphasized angrily.

Roxas nonchalantly handed to her, whom she snatched it out of his hands quickly and held on to it for dear life.

"Why do you even care why I drew you?" Naminé asked like he had just pried open into her personal life.

"Because it's scary knowing that someone has a photographic memory to capture something THAT perfect," Roxas replied boredly as he rubbed his forehead with the rag. Naminé hugged her sketchbook tightly.

_He thinks it's...perfect?_

She shook her head violently, slapping herself mentally to actually think that Roxas APPRECIATES her art.

"Well, it's downright rude to pry into someone else's stuff!" she countered.

"Well, it's downright rude to draw somebody without their permission first," Roxas smartly replied.

"You wouldn't give me your approval anyway," Naminé muttered loud enough for him to hear.

"You know me so well, don't you? And it's only day two," he huffed.

Naminé stared at him with disbelieving eyes.

_This guy's a total nut case..._

Roxas peered back at her, wondering what kind of expression she's throwing at him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked, like he had nothing better to do.

"Nothing. I'm leaving," Naminé snapped and turned on her heels in the direction of who knows where. Anywhere other than where Roxas was at.

"Not so fast, brat," Roxas called form behind. "You still remember that dumb Chocobo anatomy assignment we gotta do?"

In a whirl, he hair flipped past her fierce blue eyes. "Don't call me brat. And of course I do. I already did research of it before eighth period ended."

"Pfft," Roxas spat. "Nerd..."

"Don't call me that!!!" Naminé exclaimed angrily.

Roxas cringed at her volume. "Calm down. No need to have a cow."

"Yes, there is a need, especially when YOU'RE around!" she snapped.

A long sigh escaped his mouth, but he couldn't deny the fact that ruffling her feathers was entertaining. After all, she IS the first one to hate him despicably after a year or praise and worship from the girls around him.

"You didn't have to research all of it. I did some too," Roxas informed monotonously.

Naminé looked at him with an 'oh really...?' expression. "You actually KNOW how to research...?"

Roxas mocked a sarcastic laugh. "Ha ha ha, very funny. Just because I have status doesn't mean I don't have the brains."

Naminé's pout only worsened.

"Anyway," Roxas went on, leaning against the tree. "I'm requesting an appointment for two to the Chocobo Farm."

Her expression lightened a bit. "The Chocobo Farm?"

Roxas nodded. "It's down by the shore. It'll help us with our research."

Naminé suddenly felt a shred of guilt sear past her heart.

_Wow. He's more ambitious than I thought..._

"When's our appointment?" Naminé asked, feeling the anger seep out slowly.

"Tomorrow right after school. Don't be late or I'll leave without you," Roxas scoffed and turned on his way.

Without a response, she watched him disappear behind a corner. It amazed her at how little she knew of Roxas. He was always shut off from the world, except to his friends, and appeared to be aloof and enigmatic. Naminé turned back to the direction she was originally heading to, when she noticed that she was heading straight back to the dorm building. With a shrug, she let her feet carry her across the campus.

_Not like I have anything else to do._

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Roxas strode back to the fields, rejecting any greetings coming from anyone. His hands fumbled with the chain wrapped around the gate and swung it open. There his friend, Riku, and cousin, Sora, were practicing on improving their parry attacks. His eyes narrowed on his two wooden sword laying abandoned near the edge of the grass.

"Where did you go?" Sora asked as he dropped to the ground, sweating profusely.

"Nowhere," Roxas replied, taking another chug of his bottle and tossing it to Sora carelessly.

"We're not idiots, Roxas," Riku said, plopping his bottom on the grass while clutching his wooden sword. "Who were you talking to by that tree?"

Roxas picked up his two wooden swords, giving them a twirl in the air and catching them gracefully. "I found Naminé there."

Sora and Riku looked at each other with lifted eyebrows. "So, you ditched ten minutes of our practice time with her?"

_God damn it! I really hate it when they take it the wrong way..._

"No, you idiots. I saw her and thought I should tell her about the Chocobo Farm appointment." Roxas started rolling his shoulders to get the feeling pumping in his back. "When I came up behind her, she was drawing-"

Sora lifted a brow at his cousin's sudden stop at mid-sentence. "Drawing what?"

Roxas thought it better to zip his lip than to tell someone else's business to others.

"Just drawing. I didn't bother to look," he lied as he made a quick slash at the air with his left sword.

"Cool, I didn't know she drew," Riku commented as he felt his muscles calm down from being used too much.

"Me neither," Sora smiled.

Roxas peered over at the two. "You guys done taking a break?"

The two nodded and got to their aching feet, holding their weapons once again and resuming practice.

As Roxas fought, questions of Naminé swirled in his thoughts. One thing puzzled him to no end: Naminé's actions are cold and harsh, similar to that of the girls back in his middle school, but, there was something that held him on to her. He did not know whether Naminé really despised him, but he was pretty convinced it had nothing to do with "feelings" and such, but he still felt like hanging on to her on the edge. Naminé was very different from the other girls, but he still didn't have enough trust for her. Even so, it felt different that he actually acknowledges a girl after rejecting them for a year. What made his stomach churn the most, was that he only knew her for two days, and he's actually enjoying it!

**Thwack!**

Roxas snapped out of it as he found himself defending against Sora's back slash.

**Thwack!**

He looked over his shoulder, feeling his other arm resist against Riku's dive strike. His hands trembled as the two boys smirked.

"You're getting distracted, cousin," Sora grinned and retreated a few feet away.

Now that Sora wasn't occupying Roxas's arm, he used it as an advantage to do a quick horizontal slice against Riku, sending him to skid across the grass. Roxas charged for Sora head on, feeling the blood pump rapidly in his veins. Sora panicked and made a quick attempt to block, but failed miserably as Roxas did a flash side step and landed a hard one across his head, sending him to roll forward uncontrollably. Riku lifted himself off from the grass, massaging the arm that Roxas's sword came in contact with as thoughts of his awesome movements tried to explain itself in his brain.

"Geez man, you're scary when you're angry," Riku said.

"Tell me about it," Sora mumbled as he spat out a mouthful of grass.

Roxas smirked while putting one of his wooden swords over his shoulders. "Just goes to show you what I'm truly made of."

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Kairi found her legs cradling back and forth as her stomach cozily placed itself on the single fold of her bed with her deep blue eyes intrigued with a teens magazine. A sudden creak led her vision to the door and smiled as soon as Naminé walked in.

"Where'd you go?" Kairi asked.

"A place where I could sketch in peace," Naminé sighed, setting her things down.

"Cool! Is it finished?" she asked a tad enthusiastically.

Naminé bit her lip. "Um, not yet. I still have to add a few things."

Kairi pouted. "Well, can I see what you have so far?"

The blond felt a strange churn in her face. "U-Um, well, I'm not really proud of it."

"Pffft," Kairi chuckled. "C'mon, Nam! All of your sketches are amazing!"

Naminé scratched her cheek gently.

_Well, she IS my cousin and best friend after all..._

"Okay, I guess..."

Kairi sat upright, watching anxiously as Naminé grabbed the sketchpad and began flipping through the pages for her newest piece. She stopped and stared at it with a concerned look, then handed it to her auburn cousin. Kairi's eyes widened a bit at her cousin's display of talent.

"Whoa! This is really good!" Kairi commented excitedly, examining the natural pose and facial expression. "Naminé, you're amazing!"

Her response was a light chuckle, indicating her modesty. "I-It still needs a little work, and I'm thinking of coloring it sometime."

Kairi closed it gently and handed it to its rightful owner. "Awesome! What medium are you gunna use?"

Naminé shrugged. "Maybe colored pencil or watercolor."

"You should totally do watercolor! Your watercolor portrait of auntie was amazing!" Kairi squealed.

It was times like this that Naminé really felt like Kairi was the best thing in the world she had ever had. Not that she ever thought it before, but Kairi's habitual actions always brought it up.

"Okay," Naminé agreed warmly. Kairi looked over at the time that read '5:33', then back at the twilight sky through the partially opened curtains. Naminé noticed the time also and gasped to herself.

"Whoa, I took THAT long?" Naminé mumbled.

Kairi giggled. "You sure did. Though I was kind of getting worried since you don't usually take that long to sketch."

Naminé felt a ping of mixed emotions as she remembered her encounter with Roxas. Luckily, that was interrupted when Kairi's cell phone went off. Her auburn cousin hopped off the bed and merrily walked over to her bag. Kairi pressed a button and spoke into it.

"Hello?" she greeted.

"Hey, Kairi? It's me, Sora!" happily informed the receiver, which indeed was Sora.

"Hey Sora, what's up?"

Naminé sat on her bed, listening intently. She could hear it barely across the room since Kairi's volume was turned up all the way and found it amazing that she isn't deaf yet.

"Nothing much," Sora shyly said. "But I was just wondering if... um..."

Kairi cocked her head a bit. "Go on..."

" I-I was w-wondering i-if, if you-"

There was a series of abstract noises when another voice came on the phone, similar to Sora's.

"Hey Kairi. This is Roxas."

Her eyes widened. "Oh, hello Roxas."

In the background, a very faint Sora could be heard whining and trying to get the phone back.

"Yeah, uh... Sora quit it! Anyway, Sora wanted to ask you to a da- I mean, a movie some time tomorrow."

The blond girl staring at her cousin couldn't help but tilt her head at the sound of his voice.

_He rejects any contact from girls, yet, he's talking to my cousin? This guy's weird!_

Kairi lifted a brow. "See a movie? On a Wednesday?"

Naminé giggled quietly as Kairi's cheeks started to flush in the near mirror.

"Yeah, do you- Hey!"

"Gah! Sorry Kairi, Roxas is being a complete moron..."

Kairi chuckled cutely. "No, it's fine. But to answer your request, I'd love to! What will we be watching?"

Sora didn't see it coming and started fumbling with his words. "U-Uh... Well, th-that depends on wh-what you're in the mood for!"

A very loud snicker could be hear in Sora's background. Kairi took it for Roxas making fun of his cousin.

She put a delicate finger to her lips, thinking of what kind of movie they'd have here. "Hmmm... Well, I don't really have one in mind, but we can decide when we get there. How about that?"

"S-Sure! I'm fine with that! And then after, m-maybe we can grab a bite to eat?" he asked nervously.

With another tempting giggle, she responded," Sure. I'll be loaded up with some munny."

"Awesome!" Sora cheerily said. "So um, I'll meet you in our dorms hallway after school?"

"Sounds like a plan," Kairi agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see ya!" Sora bade.

Kairi pressed her phone again, now looking at a pleasant Naminé with a wide smile.

"So, going on a date tomorrow?" giggled Naminé.

"Yeah, you could say that," Kairi giggled back.

Naminé's face turned into a depressing frown as her lower lip bulged. "You're so lucky."

Kairi turned to her after putting her phone away. "Why's that?"

Naminé dove her head into the pillow she embraced. "You have a really awesome boyfriend..."

Not knowing where that came from, Kairi jerked her head back. "Boyfriend...? Nam, I've only met Sora yesterday..."

"Yeah," Naminé sighed. "I know. But at least he's treating you like his girlfriend. It's destiny!"

Kairi raised a brow at how "girly" Naminé could be when she doesn't notice.

"Well, I'm not the type to date a guy after knowing him for a day's worth," Kairi informed nervously.

"Yeah, true," Naminé said, cocking her head in thought. "Well, let me know how the movie goes tomorrow!"

Kairi giggled. "Will do."

The two girls sat across from each other on their respected beds, looking around the room for anything to do. After a thirty second scan of the room, Naminé sighed to herself and hoisted off the bed. Kairi peered up at her, watching her go through that door for the second time.

"I'll hang outside for a bite to eat. Wanna come?" Naminé asked before setting a foot in the hallways.

Kairi smiled and shook her head. "No thanks, I'm not hungry. I'll probably go to Selphie or Olette's dorm in a bit."

Naminé nodded. "Okay, see you later then."

"See ya."

The door swung shut as Kairi went over to their closet, inspecting each article of clothing and determining if it will be a good choice for tomorrow's event.

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"Hey, cousin, I have this really awesome idea," Roxas said with a pleasant smile. "How about you QUIT STARING AT KAIRI'S PICTURE ON YOUR PHONE AND HELP ME OUT WITH THIS STUPID REPORT?!"

Sora flipped the phone shut and sighed dreamily with a large smile plastered on his face. "Yeah..."

A large vein popped in Roxas's forehead as his anger was put into a magazine hurled at the brunette's head. Sora rubbed his head angrily and twirled to Roxas.

"That hurt you moron!" Sora hollered.

"Then stop thinking about your damn girlfriend for five seconds and help me out here!" Roxas countered back loudly.

Sora flushed immensely and immediately shushed his cousin for the fear of Kairi hearing that on the other side. Roxas huffed and massaged his temples.

"Look, just focus on this thing for five minutes. That's all I ask for, FIVE minutes, then you can go and fantasize about Kairi or whatever you do on your spare time now a days..."

Sora sighed and slumped himself on the bed. "Fine. I'll help, but I warn you, I come up with the crappiest topics ever known to man."

Roxas rested the side of his head on his hand and gave him a stern look. "Glad to know that. Luckily for you, I have an A in Mrs. Garnet's class, so not all hope is lost."

"Ha ha ha, very funny," Sora mocked, finally bringing himself to go over to his cousin and work. "Let's just get this stupid thing done already so I can pick out a nice outfit for tomorrow."

Roxas smirked to himself and focused back on the blank paper before him.

"Okay, let's start with the Eidolons..."

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The door shut loudly as the taste of peanut butter and jelly salivated her mouth even more. The sunset looked beautiful from where she stood. Naminé's eyes could see everything, from the ocean's glimmering waters to the whole town's ending point on the island. Far off in the distance, she could see a quaint little island with large trees and what seemed to be wooden houses and bridges. She sighed to herself, feeling a calm sensation flowing as she gazed out from the high rooftop of the dorm building. Her mouth chewed quietly as the tasty mush slithered down her throat. Opening her mouth and taking another bite, Naminé felt at peace as the wind playfully tossed her hair in random directions. The sturdy rail held its place against the gust as Naminé's elbows leaned on it for support.

_I should've brought my sketchbook..._

Still in her school uniform, her tie and skirt swayed along with the wind. After consuming the last piece of bread, her hands swiped together to remove any excess crumbs and remained attached to the sinking sun.

**Bang!**

She incredulously whirled around, finding a person angrily stepping towards her. The thing was, it wasn't HER this person was angry at.

"Stupid Sora, dumping all of the work on me-"

His tracks stopped as he saw an angel before him. Wait, angel? Roxas, what the hell are you thinking?! It's that stalker! She's at your favorite spot, so go chew her out! His expression immediately transformed in an ugly one.

"What the hell are you doing up here?" he asked.

Naminé put on an oh-no-you-didn't type of face and crossed her arms. "I'm enjoying the sunset. Am I not allowed to do that?"

_What's with this guy? Just this afternoon, he was nice to me! Well, okay, not so much, but it beats Mr. Grumpy here!_

"No, you're not," Roxas responded coldly. "This was my spot since last year."

Naminé held up her tough front, narrowing her blue eyes intensely on her "enemy".

"I don't see your name on it," she cockily remarked.

"So what?" Roxas spat. "I claimed this spot, now get lost."

Naminé stuck out her tongue. "Hey, you're the one who pry into other people's sketchbooks even when told NOT to! Besides, you don't own this building!"

Roxas rubbed his head irritably.

_Geez, she's stubborn._

"Fine," Roxas blatantly said. "You can hang out here, but only for today. Think of it as paying back for looking at your sketchbook or whatever."

Naminé raised her chin upwards away from Roxas. "Not only today, but whenever I want. No one can tell me what I can or can't do."

_Did I say stubborn?_ _Scratch that. REALLY stubborn._

"Listen you brat," Roxas threatened through gritted teeth. "Don't get stubborn on me. You should be happy that I'm being nice for once."

Naminé looked at him in disbelief. "You call this NICE? You're calling me a brat, for Pete's sake you idiot!"

"Does it matter?" Roxas scoffed. "Now hurry up and go so I can be alone up here."

She stomped her foot angrily. "No! This spot should be for anyone! Why should you hog all of the scenery yourself?"

Roxas turned away, somewhat numb at the first part of Naminé's words. "The world's not fair, ain't it? Well, too bad and get used to it. This is the only place I can find peace alone, and I intend to keep it to myself for a long time. If you have a problem with it, then say it to my face."

Silence was her only response. Her mind kept rewinding his words in her head. For some very odd reason, it wasn't so much the words he spoke, but HOW he spoke them. She could've sworn a hint of depression ran somewhere within that previous sentence. Her heart started throbbing and jolting in strange directions as her frown focused at the ground under her feet. Why was she feeling so depressed all of a sudden?

"Fine," Naminé lowly agreed.

To Roxas's surprise, her face lifted and her eyes locked with his in immense focus and contact.

"I hope you find peace," she said before brushing past and going back into the building.

**Bang!**

Roxas watched as the door remained still after falling in its rightful place of the frame.

_What... What was that?_

His brain seemed to stop functioning for a mere second when her words echoed in his head once more.

_She hopes I find peace?_

Roxas found himself standing there facing the lowering sun while the wind continued its duty to animate things. Thoughts in his head whirled around, constantly saying the EMOTION Naminé had displayed in that single sentence. It was awkward to feel something so unnatural. Roxas had never experienced his feelings and thoughts being so morphed in just two days, especially when meeting someone for the first time. Even if it's a girl. He racked around his brain for a simple solution, repeatedly saying that it's not that hard to figure out. Well, if it wasn't so hard, why can't he find a simple solution? Roxas noticed the last bit of the sun disappearing behind the waters and turned upward to the twinkling sky following behind the orange tint. He finally noticed the exhaustion in his feet and plopped on his back, sprawling his arms outward as if embracing the stars. Peace, yes, he was truly at peace, but not at its full potential. Not yet.

_"I hope you find peace..."_

**End Chapter 3**

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A/N: Well? How was it? Did you like it? A lot of things happen here, but it's for the best! xD I hope it wasn't too fluffy or anything. I wanted to save that for later. Well anyway, please review and thanks for reading! Stay updated with the next chapter! C8


	4. Blue Nostalgia

A/N: Hey guys! (Sigh) Another late update, sorry. ; Anyway, here's another chapter for ya! Wark!

I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura do.

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**Chapter 4**

Naminé woke to a staggering THUMP heard from the other side of her wall, where Sora and his cousin Roxas stayed. This was the second time she heard it in a row. What could possibly be going on in there so early in the morning? As she pulled her bare legs over the bedside, her ears caught muffled laughing and someone else screaming. She sighed to herself, and then looked at a slumbering Kairi from across the room.

_Kairi and I don't fight like that._

**Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!**

Kairi twisted in her sleep, letting out a grumble about staying in bed for five more minutes. Naminé chuckled and strode over, nudging her cousin awake. Kairi peeked her auburn head from under the covers and warily stared into identical blue eyes.

"G' morning," Kairi yawned.

"Good morning," Naminé chuckled. "Have a good sleep?"

Kairi slowly sat up and stretched her exhausted arms out, getting the blood flowing faster. "Yeah, somewhat."

Naminé strode over to the alarm clock and ceased the incessant beeping noise with a push of a button. "Today's your big date!"

Her auburn cousin walked over to the closet and giggled to herself. "It's my FIRST date, Nam. I've never really been on an actual date with someone."

"That's right!" Naminé loudly said as she remembered. "It's kind of hard to believe that my gorgeous cousin hasn't been on a date yet."

Kairi giggled. "Thanks for the compliment. I can say the same for you too."

Naminé looked to her cousin while seated atop her messy bed. "What are you talking about, Kairi? I'm not going on a date."

Kairi pranced a bit with her uniform on her hanger and set it above her crumpled covers, undressing her shirt. "That's not what Sora told me last night."

The blonde's blue eyes narrowed on her cousin. "Kairi, what did he tell you?"

"That you and Roxas are going to a Chocobo Farm," Kairi answered innocently.

"Kairi, that's hardly even a date," Naminé disgustingly replied.

"Psh! It's two people going somewhere for fun. Sounds like a date to me!" Kairi laughed, placing her hands on her hips.

"We're doing it for research!" Naminé incredulously cried. "Besides, how would going to a Chocobo Farm even BE a date?"

Kairi smiled cheerily. "As long as you two have fun!"

Naminé sighed inwardly, wondering why she even bothered. "Well anyway, I'll take a shower. You can go ahead without me."

"Okay, I'll see you around then," Kairi bade as Naminé walked into the bathroom with a towel draped over one shoulder.

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"Sora."

"Yes Roxas?"

"Could you do me a really big favor?"

"Sure Roxas, what can I do ya for?"

"Will you quit skipping and frolicking like a girl and walk NORMALLY?" Roxas emphasized irritably as a giggling group passed by.

Honestly, could you blame the dude for prancing like a complete fool? He had just gotten his dream girl to go on a little movie date with him. Even though Captain Obvious isn't here, everyone would know he's happy for SOMETHING. Although, it made Roxas sick to his stomach as his eyes annoyingly narrowed on whatever he was boring a hole into as his happy-go-lucky cousin skipped and danced and frolicked like the world was made of candy and chocolate. The two mood-opposites were nearing the fiery red-head and the dirty blonde mullet who sat on a patch of grass in the distance.

"What's Peter Pan so happy about?" Axel asked as the cousins stopped at their feet.

"He's taking Wendy to Neverland," Roxas joked smugly.

"Pffft," Demyx spat. "Good one Roxas. Seriously, why's he all excited?"

Sora triumphantly poked himself on the chest with his thumb. "I've got a movie date with Kairi."

"Nice one!" Axel commented as he gave Sora a high-five. "What about you dude?"

Roxas finally noticed the last part of Axel's question directing towards him. "What about me?"

"You goin' with Sora and Kairi?" Demyx asked, plucking a string on his guitar.

Roxas lifted a brow. "Um, no."

Sora shook his head. "He's going somewhere else." He then took the pleasure to sneer at his blond cousin. "With Naminé."

"Alright! Go Roxas! You finally got yourself a girl!" Axel and Demyx cheered, while Demyx strummed a victorious tune.

**Bam! Bam! Bam!**

Roxas angrily clutched his backpack strap, relieving some of his tension as he saw his two best friends and cousin massaging whatever part that came in contact with his back pack sourly.

"Geez Roxas!" Sora cried as he rubbed his forearm. "What are you so mad about?"

"I'm not mad, I'm annoyed," Roxas gritted as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Annoyed at what?" Demyx asked, rubbing his nose.

"What's it look like?!" Roxas bitterly asked.

Axel massaged his red spikes painfully. "C'mon Roxas. We were just joking!"

"Don't joke around like that," Roxas huffed.

"You never get THAT mad whenever we say it about someone else," Demyx said, hoping he isn't angering the blond anymore than he should.

"Yeah, is Naminé a special case or something?" Sora asked, backing a way a bit just in case Roxas's killer instinct would take its full effect on him.

"No," Roxas bluntly replied. "She just bugs me to no end."

Axel threw up his hands. "Man, EVERY girl bugs you!"

"Ya think?" Roxas scowled, but soon sighed and plopped himself on the grass. "And I've gotta go with her to that stupid Chocobo Farm."

"Dude, don't complain 'cause you're the one who set it all up," Sora lectured as he took his rightful spot next to his cousin.

"Yeah, I know that," the blonde mumbled irritably. "But I'm not about to fail this 200 point assignment. I can't afford to have my B minus go down to a low C."

"Dude, I don't know why you even bother," Demyx sighed. "You have all A's in everything else."

"Roxas is a perfectionist," Sora inputted. "And he has to have things his way."

Roxas launched invisible side-daggers at his cousin's ear. "Thanks for the compliment, cousin."

The four twitched in unison as the campus bell rang loudly throughout the campus, having each student to dreadfully go in and have their brains painfully filled with whatever they spoon-fed you. Yeah, wanna know the first half of the day? If you do, spell "boring" three times slowly.

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"C'mon c'mon! Hurry!"

"Olette! Selph! Hold on just a minute!!" Naminé whined.

"Yeah, hurry Nam! Roxas will be here any second!" Kairi giggled.

"Shouldn't you be at a movie with someone right now?!" Naminé snapped as she held up her white articles of clothing while sitting Indian-style on her bed.

The auburn chuckled to herself, sliding her maroon locks behind her ear, which possessed a dangling baby blue star earring. "Come on, I want to see this through until Sora gets here!"

Naminé pouted. "And how come you two are here?"

"Because you have a little date with Roxas," Selphie grinned.

"It's not a date! We're going to a FARM!" Naminé emphasized.

"Still," Olette giggled. "You should look good."

"No," Naminé immediately responded as she got off her bed and dug into her closet. "I'll wear what I wanna wear."

"Which is all white," Kairi added, checking her phone in case Sora calls.

"A-hah! Here it is!" Naminé victoriously announced as she pulled out a white, long-sleeved shirt accompanied by a hoodie.

"Nam, it's too hot for that!" Selphie said.

"So? Besides, I'm not a big fan of showing a lot of skin," Naminé informed as she looked for a pair of jeans.

"As long as Naminé's happy," Olette giggled. "Any accessories?"

Naminé nodded as she walked over to her bed, plopping her chosen clothing onto the neatly made covers and strut over to a tiny box on the nightstand. Her delicate finger slid out the top-most shelf and start fingering for her desired accessory.

"This one," Naminé said, holding up a necklace with a rather large blue marble-like ball in the middle. Selphie and Olette quirked a brow at it, as though the blue marble would fall off any minute judging from its massive pull on gravity against its tiny chain. Naminé happily set it on top of her clothing and pulled her white, long-sleeved hoodie shirt, revealing the words "Over Drive" in black, scratched letters upon her chest. The girls snickered as Naminé dressed herself in her chosen attire and put a finishing touch with the blue marble necklace.

"I forgot where you got that necklace," Kairi trialed off, scratching her chin.

Naminé held the large sapphire ball in between her thumb and index finger. "I found it back at Twilight Town, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Kairi nodded. "You told me you found it on top of the huge Clock Tower."

"Did you try finding the person to give it back to them?" Olette asked, eyeing the marble.

"Yeah. I waited on top of that Clock Tower to see if anyone would come back up, but no one came," Naminé said, a bit sorrowfully.

"Well, I'm sure the person has forgotten all about it," Selphie shrugged.

**Knock! Knock! Knock!**

Kairi hurried over to the door, opening it and beaming at a fairly good-looking Sora whose eyes looked as though they'd fall out.

"Wow, you are one hot smokin' mama," Sora complimented mindlessly.

Kairi giggled. "Thanks! And your one smokin' hot, um, papa?"

Sora chuckled and nudged Roxas, who was beside him. "You hear that? She called me smokin' hot."

"She also called you old," Roxas snickered, earning a glare from his cousin.

Kairi giggled and turned behind her. "Naminé, Roxas is here!"

"I'm coming!" Naminé told as she fumbled with her shoelaces. Selphie and Olette snickered to one another as Naminé had to redo it all over again and began filing out of the twin cousin's dorm room. Naminé happily pranced out, when she noticed something very peculiar on Roxas's black hoodie.

"Roxas, I didn't know you liked 'Over Drive'," Naminé said, eyeing the white scratched letter on his chest. Apparently, he didn't either.

"It's a skater brand, of course I like it," he scoffed. "Besides, I should be the one saying that to you."

Roxas pointed to the similar black lettering on her chest when his eyes fell on the blue marble rocking back and forth in the middle of her bosom. Just like the marble, his sapphire eyes focused intently upon its shining surface, unaware than Naminé herself was looking at him like he grew flowers out of his nose.

"Hellooo!!" Sora called. "Earth to Roxas!!! You can stop staring at Naminé's chest now!!"

Naminé scowled and covered her chest with her arms. "You pervert!"

Roxas blinked rapidly and punched Sora in the arm. "You idiot, why would I bother to look at a wall?!"

"Shut up you idiotic jerk!" Naminé snarled. How dare he call her flat-chested! Naminé took a quick peek under her arms, examining the size of her breasts when her heart sunk.

_Well, okay, maybe I am a bit flat-chested..._

"Well anyway," Kairi chuckled nervously, cueing the twittering Olette and Selphie to leave. "We'll see you guys later, okay?"

Selphie and Olette left, waving to the four and disappeared behind the elevator doors.

Naminé and Roxas turned back to each other, but only to exchange nasty looks and turn the opposite way. Sora and Kairi sighed at their counterparts.

"Come on, let's get going," Roxas huffed, leading the way. Sora and Kairi followed, along with a bitter Naminé who still kept her hands above her bosom. After the sliding doors shut, the silence was awkward. EXTREMELY awkward. How come they didn't put any elevator music? Anyway, Roxas's mind was still on that marble necklace Naminé wore and he tapped Sora's shoulder gently.

"What?" Sora asked, breaking the silence.

"I need to talk to you for a few minutes when we get outside," Roxas informed. Kairi and Naminé looked at each other.

Sora nodded. "Sure."

The elevator door slipped open and Kairi and Naminé stepped out first, then after a few minutes, followed by a chit-chatting Roxas and Sora.

"I wonder what they're talking about," Naminé asked.

"Probably about your chest," Kairi giggled.

Naminé clenched her fists tightly and blushed. "Kairi!"

"I was only joking!" Kairi laughed.

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"Wait, hold on, slow down, Roxas. You're saying that Naminé's necklace looks like the marble grandma gave you?" Sora asked quietly, yet intensely.

"Yeah. Back in Twilight Town, I lost it sometime ago, and I couldn't find it anymore," Roxas said, keeping an eye on Naminé blond head.

"What about the yellow, green and red ones? You still have those, right?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, they're still in the box," Roxas informed.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Sora asked. "You gunna get it back?"

"I have to. It was grandma's present before she passed away," Roxas said, feeling a bit depressed from reminiscing himself holding his grandmother's withered and lifeless hand by her hospital bed.

"Well, good luck with that. I'll be seeing you tonight," Sora reassured and called out Kairi's name. She turned back and smiled to him as he jogged up to her.

"Ready to go?" he asked cheerily.

Kairi nodded. "Whenever you're ready! See you later on tonight, Naminé!"

Naminé smiled. "Have fun you two. And keep it Pg-13, and I'm not talking about the movie."

"Naminé!"

"Okay okay, sorry cousin! Have a good time you two!" Naminé laughed as a cherry-faced Sora led Kairi two the black gates. Her back stayed facing Roxas as he walked up to her, finding it hard to stop focusing on her sapphire necklace.

"C'mon. We'll be late," Roxas bluntly replied, getting her attention. The two made their way out of the campus ground, ignoring weird looks and glances being casted all around. As soon as the school was out of range and the ocean was in perfect view, the two strolled down the dirt path, passing by commoners and a few guards while a few sea gulls cawed their greetings. Honestly, Roxas felt like he wanted to gouge his eyes out right now, for it kept reverting back to the marble while people mistaken it for perverted-ness. Naminé stared off in the distance, unaware of Roxas's eyes when he cleared his throat.

"I would've worn something else if I knew you were wearing the same thing," he coyly said, wanting to ruffle her feathers.

Naminé bugled her lower lip. "Well, geez, it's not my fault I never knew you liked 'Over Drive' too."

"Like I said," Roxas said, shifting his hands in his pockets a bit. "'Over Drive' is a skater brand. I don't know why a girly girly chick like you is wearing this stuff."

"I'm not a girly girly chick," Naminé scowled. "I'm not all about those mini-skirts and tube tops or whatever they're called. I hate showing skin."

Roxas sighed. "I feel bad for you. You'll never get married."

Naminé took a bold move and struck Roxas for the first time on his forearm.

"Ow!" he cried loudly. "What the hell was that for?!"

"You know very well what it was for you ass hole!" she screeched, attracting even more weirder looks.

"I'm just telling the truth," Roxas huffed, not knowing why he isn't the least bit mad at her. More like shocked.

_This girl has guts._

"You think you know everything, eh? Hah! You obviously need to shrink that big ego of yours," Naminé smartly mocked.

"And you need to act more like a GIRL rather than a lunatic," Roxas said sticking o0ut his tongue.

"And YOU need to learn how to be considerate you moron," Naminé replied doing the same.

Roxas turned the other way, frowning in an ugly way. But in his head, it was practically the other way around. He had not known a girl to even TOUCH him. Call it a big ego, but seriously, Naminé was the first girl who actually possesses a BRAIN!

"Tch, whatever," Roxas scoffed. "Hurry up and get a move on."

Naminé frowned at the ground and watched as her blue marble necklace bounced a bit against her chest. Roxas saw this activity and decided this would be the best time to ask.

"Where'd you get that thing anyway? Isn't it a bit too big to be a necklace?" he asked.

Naminé held the blue globe in the palm of her hand, watching it roll back and forth with each step she took. "I found it in Twilight Town."

Roxas's ears intently started to focus when he heard of his former hometown.

"It was lying next to a beam at the big Clock Tower," she said, having a bit of a nostalgic tone to her voice.

"And you didn't think of ever giving it back to whoever it belonged to?" Roxas asked almost immediately.

Naminé looked at him. "Well, the thing is, I kept it with me and stayed at the top of the Clock Tower in the daytime back then. But, the person never came."

Roxas faced forward.

_So that's where it was. I thought I lost it at the train station or something..._

"Well, it's mine."

Naminé stopped in her tracks and took a moment to register the words that came out of Roxas's mouth. Roxas stopped too and looked behind.

"Wait. Say that again," Naminé demanded.

Roxas quirked a brow. "I said, it's mine."

Naminé stared at the orb. "Do you have proof?"

Roxas sighed. "That marble was given to me by my late grandmother."

A ping surged across her chest as she lessened her grip on the sapphire object. But still, her mind didn't change.

"I know this might sound messed up, but how can I trust you? I've only known you for about three days and-"

"Fine, you want more proof?" Roxas interrupted. "Come to my dorm room after this, and I'll show you three others like it."

Naminé looked at him like a stray puppy. "Okay."

She felt so guilty that she hadn't let go of the marble. Her mind kept thinking about long ago, when she waited for the owner to come pick up the object, but Roxas never came. Why was that?

"Roxas, how come you didn't come to the clock tower to look for it?" she asked.

"I thought I lost it at the train station. Besides, it was too late because we moved on that day," Roxas said.

"Oh," Naminé said. This sure was awkward. Here Naminé was, walking side-by-side with Roxas, wearing his grandmother's late gift around her neck like it was hers. Guilty-much? Pretty much, yeah. But she still wanted to see proof due to her stubborn-ness. Without even realizing it, their feet came in contact with the soft sand of the beach shore. It was nice, blissful, and calm as the shore pulled in and out noisily. Hoping that sand doesn't get in his sneakers, Roxas turned to see the high sun being occasionally blocked by thing amounts of clouds against the blue sky. Naminé looked in the opposite direction, glancing here and there at the quaint little houses and busy people up and about. Destiny Islands was quite pretty in the daytime.

"Hey, Nuhmeena or whatever your name is," Roxas said, getting her angry, yet undivided attention at her horribly mispronounced name.

"My name is Na-mi-né. And what do you want, Rucksack?" Naminé mocked, feeling a bit satisfied as he gave her a dirty look.

"Don't call me that. We're here," he said pointing to a small, but lively little ranch where yellow, giant-sized birds ruffled their wings and strut around a bit. Naminé's eyes lit up, taking in the fact that she's actually seeing a live Chocobo. Roxas on the other hand, looked at them like it was old news. The two continued on and noticed a tiny plushie-like moogle carrying a bucket. It's pom pom bounced as its movement around the ranch fence made its nose twitch. The little bat-like wings on its back flapped furiously as the moogle hovered itself to a Chocobo sticking its long neck out to it. Roxas cleared his throat to get the moogle's attention.

"Ah, you must be Rucksack and Nuhmeena, kupo!" said the moogle as the Chocobo feasted on the apples inside the bucket.

"It's Roxas and Naminé," Naminé irritably corrected.

"Right right, forgive me, kupo! Well you two are just in time for the personal tour, kupo!" cried the moogle. The Chocobo lifted its enormous beak from the bucket and gave a "WARK!" as a cry of satisfaction. Naminé giggled as the Chocobo licked its beak for any apple left-overs.

"Can I pet it?" Naminé asked.

"It's a he, and his name is Choco, kupo! Go ahead and pet him, kupo!" cried the moogle.

Roxas watched as Naminé stepped closer to the giant chicken-like bird and reached out a hand to touch it, or rather, Choco. Choco blinked once or twice at her hands, as if waiting for her to do something. Naminé slowly placed her small fingers on Choco's head, feeling the tiny feather's on his scalp ruffle with pleasure. It cooed and such at Naminé's little pet while she giggled with delight.

"He's so cute!" she cried, using her other hand to pet its beak.

Roxas watched as the moogle hovered next to him.

"Is she your girlfriend, kupo?"

"No. Just a classmate," Roxas replied, trying not to be rude.

"Ah, well, let's get right on the tour then, shall we, kupo?"

"Right. Hey!" Roxas called, not wanting to say her name due to the fear of mispronouncing it again.

"I have a name you know," Naminé snapped, while messaging the top of Choco's head. "It's Naminé."

"Yeah yeah, c'mon, let's get this tour over with already," he called. Naminé frowned a bit and stopped her activity as Choco blinked at her and gave a loud "WARK!"

Naminé giggled. "You're welcome, Choco. I'll come by later."

"Quit talking to yourself and get a move on," Roxas called as he followed the hovering moogle into the barn. Naminé scowled at him and gave a last smile to Choco before following after her irritating classmate. The barn was huge, holding five Chocobos in a stable on each side of the ranch. The moogle named Mogi explained the proteins Chocobos should eat and how to take care of them. He also provided reasons as to why by actually using a Chocobo named Chika to demonstrate their powerful talons and over-sized wings. The two paid attention to every detail Mogi said as he took out a chart displaying the bone structure of the Chocobo and its muscle and tendons. After all the lectures and everything known to man and moogle of Chocobos, Mogi offered the two to actually ride one. Naminé excitedly agreed, while Roxas sharply declined.

"Awww, why not?" Naminé whined.

"Because I'm not used to those things," Roxas said monotonously.

Mogi brought out Choco by the reigns since he seemed to be the only one used to humans and landed squarely back on the ground.

"C'mon, Roxas, kupo! It can't hurt to try," Mogi insisted. Roxas just huffed when Choco made a round trip behind Roxas, stuck his head in between his legs and hoisted him over his back.

"GAAHH!!" Roxas cried as he felt himself tumble onto the bird's back.

"WARK!" Choco gleefully cried. Naminé giggled as a flustered Roxas grabbed a hold of the reigns just in case Choco went hay wire or something while Mogi twitched his nose in laughter.

"Your turn miss Naminé, kupo!" Mogi said. Naminé looked at Choco, then at Roxas.

"Wait, on the same Chocobo?" Naminé asked, feeling herself heat up a bit. Mogi nodded as its pom pom swayed with its head.

"I-I don't think two people can- WAAHH!!!"

In a flash, Naminé found herself on Choco's back as Roxas was behind her, a bit too closely, holding onto the reigns. Their faces went extremely hot when Choco made a sudden lurch and started walking around the fenced area. Naminé had no idea what to do since Roxas held the reigns with his hands, and he supported behind her, which was EXTREMELY awkward. Mogi placed himself at the top of Choco's head and began instructing them how to turn left, how to turn right, how to quicken or slow the pace. Naminé's first experience on a Chocobo could only be described as "thrilling" as she told Roxas that she wanted to hold on to the reigns. Roxas shrugged at it, letting her have a go when he felt a sudden jerk forward, which almost sent him crashing down and made a quick reach around Naminé's stomach. Naminé had whipped the reigns so that Choco would go at a frightening speed around the ranch and was being directed in different directions with each pull of the reign. Naminé laughed as the wind whipped her face while Roxas held onto her for dear life. Mogi hovered above them just in time before Choco could speed off and leave him behind in the dust.

"Naminé, are you crazy?!" Roxas yelled.

"What?! This is fun!!" Naminé replied, making a left turn on Choco.

Roxas's grip tightened around her waist as he felt himself bouncing off of the saddle. Naminé began to gradually increase her tug on the reigns, making Choco slow down to a stop. Naminé patted Choco's head gleefully, making him give out a loud "WARK!"

"You were great, Choco!" Naminé complimented as Choco's wings fluttered a bit.

"Guh, I think I'm gunna be sick," Roxas droned as his forehead fell on Naminé back. When he opened his eyes, he quickly flushed at how close he held Naminé and unraveled his bind quickly before she could even notice. He hopped off and staggered a bit as Mogi plopped down next to him.

"That's one crazy girlfriend you got there, Roxas, kupo!" Mogi informed.

"I told you, she's NOT my girlfriend," Roxas emphasized irritably.

Naminé soon hopped off also and began rubbing her nose with Choco's.

"You're so cute! I wish I could keep you," Naminé giggled as Choco nuzzled her cheek with his beak.

The sun above was astoundingly just above the ocean, which meant that it was time to go. Roxas turned to Mogi and stood up straight.

"Thank you, Mogi, for the tour and lecture," he courteously thanked.

Mogi nodded. "Not a problem, kupo! Come back anytime! Choco would like that, kupo!"

"Hey, Naminé," Roxas called, finally getting the gist of her name. She turned to him, and so did Choco. "Come on, we have to leave."

The blond girl turned to the giant creature with a saddening frown. "Aw, I have to go now Choco."

"Wark!" cried Choco as he nudged his beak at her cheeks again. Roxas sighed as Naminé giggled before passing the other side of the fence. The two waved to Mogi and Choco and began on their merry way home along the now orange sands of the shore. Roxas trudged through the sand, hoping that the information he got today would get him an A on that 200 point assignment, while Naminé happily hummed the Chocobo song quietly. The back to the school was rather quick, for some reason, since the sun sunk slowly into the ocean as twilight and night followed after it.

"That was fun!" gleed Naminé as she continued up the dorm building steps.

"Glad you had fun," Roxas droned boredly after passing through the double doors.

"Thanks!" Naminé replied, oblivious to the sarcastic tone in Roxas's last comment. As the elevator slid its doors shut, their weight began to slightly increase as the box zoomed up the building levels.

"So, that proof you were talking about," Naminé said as she saw the blue marble's blurry reflection against the metallic interior.

"Come to my dorm room and I'll show you," Roxas said as the elevator stopped and revealed the second floor corridor. He led the way stubbornly as Naminé followed. He rummaged through his pocket jeans and pulled out his dorm rook key, twisting it once safely inside the lock and unlocking the door. Naminé held her breath, expecting the aroma of dirty socks and underwear to poison and knock her out, but instead, found the scent of guys cologne. It wasn't too strong either. She also expected things to be scattered everywhere, but to her surprise, it was rather clean and tidy. Roxas strode forward and immediately opened his closet as Naminé took a seat on one of the beds. It was probably Roxas's since the skating magazines were stacked next to the bed.

After a good five minutes of rummaging and mumbling to himself, he finally withdrew from the closet holding onto a medium-sized wooden box with carved vines on the sides. He sat down next to Naminé, as her eyes scanned the neatly crafted box when Roxas's hands unlocked the brackets and tilted the lid. Her oceanic eyes widened as three of the exact same-sized marbles glimmered magically under the light. There was a red one, a green one, and a yellow one fitting nicely inside the soft grove of the box, but a fourth grove lay marble-less. Naminé looked at the sapphire jewel dangling from her neck and took it off, replacing that empty groove with the blue orb. The two could've sworn the marbles started to shimmer once that blue one was in its rightful place, having the chain dangle at the side of the boxes. Naminé then focused on the carved writing inside the top-half. She read it out loud:

_Dear Roxas,_

_Here's a valuable set of marbles me and your late grandfather shared when we were growing up. We want you to have it since your still a young boy growing up into a man. Share these with the one you cherish most and always stick together through thick and thin. We love you very much._

_Love, Grandma and Grandpa_

Naminé looked back at the four jewels, now feeling the ping f guilt actually striking her hard.

"Now do you believe me?" Roxas asked, making an invisible arrow go through her conscious.

"Yeah, sorry," Naminé apologized, scratching her head.

Roxas sighed, unclipping the chain connected to the blue marble, handing it back to Naminé, closing the box and putting it back into the closet. "Whatever. As long as it's safe and sound."

Naminé nodded and began to get up. "Okay, well, thanks for today. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun."

"Mm," Roxas agreed quietly and escorted her to the door. "Meet me tomorrow after school so we can work on that stupid poster."

Naminé nodded as Roxas opened the door to let her out, when they suddenly find something unexpected, also, quite embarrassing. There, standing outside of the room, was Sora, Kairi, Axel, and Demyx. And from the looks on their faces, it seemed they were getting the wrong idea.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Axel snickered as Roxas leaned against the doorway.

Naminé quirked a brow. "What?"

"Nam, what were you doing in Roxas's room?" Kairi asked.

"I was just giving him something," Naminé replied. Of course, that wasn't a very smart answer to give as their snicker became more louder.

"Really now," Demyx cooed. "What were you giving him?"

Roxas pouted. "You guys are perverts."

"Well, what was she doing in our room with you?" Sora sneered.

"She was giving back grandma's gift you idiot!" Roxas screeched, refraining himself from hitting his cousin. "And what are Axel and Demyx doing with you guys anyway?"

"They just decided to talk with us once we got back on campus," Kairi said.

Axel sighed and turned to Demyx all teary-eyed. "Our Roxas is growing up."

"That's it. If you aren't out of here in five seconds, I'm ripping off both of your guys' eyebrows."

And with that, the two skedaddled as they cackled loudly until the elevator consumed them with its metallic doors. Out of habit, the blond male ruffled his hair irritably as his brunette cousin just gave him a mischievous smile.

"So how was the movie?" Naminé asked, deciding that changing the subject was for the better.

"It was creepy!" Kairi said, shifting her shoulders a bit.

"Sure was," Sora said, almost in a dream-like state. Roxas took it that Kairi had probably cuddled with him during the scary parts of the movie.

"I'm glad you guys had fun," Naminé giggled. "Well, I'm going to our room, you coming Kairi?"

Her cousin nodded, then faced Sora. "Thank you for such an awesome time, Sora."

Naminé giggled as a hue of red ran across Sora's nose. "N-No problem! I had a great time with you."

Roxas half-grinned as Sora began to laugh nervously. That laughing, however, quickly stopped.

**Chu!**

"Goodnight!" Kairi bade as the door closed behind her, making a barricade between her and Sora. Roxas leaned against the door way with his arms crossed while watching his dumbfounded cousin touch the cheek that an angel had kissed.

"You done boggling now? I wanna get to sleep," Roxas asked.

Only silence was his response. Sora looked at the hand that touched the blessed cheek, seeing a glimmer of strawberry lip gloss on his palm, unaware of his face's unnatural shade of red. He was like a glowing lantern. Roxas rolled his eyes and grasped Sora's arm, dragging him inside the room.

"You're such a love-struck fool."

**End Chapter 4**

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A/N: "Over Drive" is just a name I thought of and decided to make it a brand. xD So, how was it? Did you like it? Yeah, a bit fluffier than the previous ones. But yay! Chocobos! xP Please review and thanks for reading! C8


	5. What You Don't Know Won't Hurt You

A/N: 8D Hey guys! This story was starting to get some cobwebs, so I decided to update it. Also, the next chapter of **Who Needs Love?** is still in progress, so please bear with me. This one's a little lengthy, so here it is! Enjoy!

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy, Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura do.

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**Chapter 5**

**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE-CRASH!**

Sora bolted upright, snorting painfully in the process while trying to focus on his surroundings. Surely enough, he was in his dorm, but what had made that obnoxious crashing noise? The brunette bed-head looked over to his left, seeing a cracked alarm clock with the numbers of the time, barely blinking. The murderer of this alarm clock was none other than his blond cousin, whose face was buried into the white pillow. Roxas's arm hung over the bedside, having a small red bruise on the side of his palm. Sora sighed to himself and swung the covers away from his legs.

"Cousin, you're scary in the morning," Sora said aloud.

"Shuvvp, youvvre avvoyyang," Roxas muffled through his pillow.

"Yeah, you're annoying too," yawned the brunette. "Come on, get up. You already broke the alarm clock."

As Sora took his time stretching, Roxas took his time lifting himself from his drool-soaked pillow.

"Yuck! That's disgusting, Roxas. Did you have a dream or somethin'?" asked Sora, looking as if he'd smell something vile.

The blond blinked a couple of times at his pillow. "Yeah, what of it?"

"Geez, it takes a lot for you to drool, let alone snore! What kind of dream did you have?"

Roxas swung his legs over while rubbing his eyes simultaneously. "I don't know. It was kind of blurry. All I saw was a huge sunset and a dock. That was it."

The blonde's brunette cousin cocked his head. "A sunset and a dock? That's what we have here."

Roxas scratched his head. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

"You think it means something?" Sora questioned, scanning the closet of sloppily hung uniforms.

"Dunno," Roxas shrugged, heading over to the bathroom after he made sure he was fully awake. "I was never interested in dreams..."

"Right," Sora agreed boredly, pulling out of his bed attire and into his uniform. "Just probably some scenario that just wanted you to waste your time trying to figure out its meaning."

The blond sighed before taking the tooth pasted toothbrush up to his mouth. "Sure. Whatever."

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It sure was a peaceful beginning of this day. Well, for five minutes, maybe. Namine wasn't sure exactly WHAT was going on with everyone this morning. It started when she walked out of the dorm building and onto the open campus with her auburn cousin. Chit-chat started to go around like a plague. She couldn't understand a word they were saying, for they whispered excitedly. Kairi was apparently confused as the blond was.

"Namine, what's going on here?" Kairi asked, peering around nervously.

"No clue," Namine affirmed. "Was it something we did?"

"But we didn't DO anything," Kairi emphasized.

"It's like I told you. Rumors are flying around now."

The two girls twirled their heads in the direction of a male blonde and brunette.

"What rumors, Roxas?" Kairi asked.

"Everyone's probably thinking me and your hard-headed cousin have the hots for each other," explained Roxas bitterly.

"EW! Why would I have the hots for you?!" Namine bellowed.

Roxas glared at her. "I could ask the same thing, you brat!"

"Okay okay, enough you two. Can we all go get some breakfast or something?" interjected Sora, who miserably rubbed his stomach.

"Yes, I think we should," Kairi happily agreed. "How about you two?"

Roxas and Namine stood there, back to back with their arms folded and chins up high.

"Fine," they simultaneously spoke.

Kairi and Sora led the way first, but not without the brunette blushing furiously first. He hadn't forgotten the little kiss Kairi had given him the night before. Kairi just smiled and walked alongside him, not noticing his bright red feature. In the back, Roxas and Namine followed in their cousins' steps, not giving each other a second glance.

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"Alright then, who can tell me what the passage meaning in line 45 symbolizes?"

Namine raised her hand.

"Yes, Namine?"

"The passage meaning is symbolic for love because of the way the poor maid described the youngest prince as a blossoming red rose."

"Precisely, Namine. And that is why..."

Namine scribbled down some side notes that Mr. Leonhart mentioned, when something light hit her head. She perked up, looking behind her to see who had thrown that paper ball. No one provided any clues, as they were all intently writing down notes. The blond went back to scribbling, when another came in contact. She whirled around angrily, seeing no hints or signs of the suspect. This was seriously ticking her off. She slowly went back to her business and scribbled impatiently on her notes. Once again, another hit her head, causing her to whiz around, angrily I might add and focus upon three giggling girls smirking at her.

"What was that for?!" mouthed Namine.

The girls responded back with stuck-out tongues. Roxas, who was sitting two seats away from them, sighed to himself.

_Geez, how annoying._

Roxas focused back on Namine, wondering what she'll do next. Turn around and ignore it like a sensible academic? To his surprise, she was witnessed picking up one of the three crumpled balls of paper and prepared to launch it at one of the now shocked girls, when...

"Miss Namine," Mr. Leonhart sternly said, interrupting his conversation with another blond teacher with his hair in a ponytail that just recently came in to speak abruptly.

Namine froze, with the paper ball in her clutched hands. "Err, yes Mr. Leonhart?"

"You weren't going to THROW that paper ball, were you?" said the brunette teacher strictly. His scar seared across his forehead, scrunched a bit wear the bridge of his nose crinkled. The blond teacher smiled sadly. He witnessed the whole thing when he came in, but found it rude to intrude on other teacher's students.

"But, But Mr. Leonhart-"

"Sorry Mr. Leonhart."

Namine twirled to the familiar voice behind her, eyes widening when she saw Roxas standing up.

"I threw the paper balls at her," he lied. The three girls chuckling were now dumbfounded by his acts, just like Namine was.

"Hmph, I applaud you for your honest confession, but I must reinforce punishment," Mr. Leonhart informed rigidly. "Detention, both of you, for attempting to start a paper ball fight in my class."

Namine sighed miserably. "Yes sir."

Roxas sat down indifferently. "Yes sir."

"Heh, Squall, strict as always," commented the blond teacher.

"You should know very well, Zidane," Squall growled. "Tell Rinoa that I'll be there shortly after my prep. And I'll leave these two troublemakers to you."

"Of course, of course," Mr. Tribal assured. "I'll see you two in my room at the start of lunch. Understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Tribal," the two blonds groaned.

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"Roxas, why did you take the blame as well? You wouldn't have to be stuck in detention!"

"Because it wasn't entirely her fault."

"It was none of your fault either!"

"That's right; it was all three of yours'."

"..."

"Tch. Girls are annoying. Do something like that again, and I'll never look your way again."

The three girls retreated right after Roxas had given them a talking to and right after Mr. Leonhart's class ended. He sighed to himself, wondering why he was going the extra length for Namine. He leaned against the lockers, waiting for Namine to come out of the classroom when Axel and Demyx came strolling by.

"Roxas? What are you doing?" Demyx asked, stopping in his tracks.

"Waiting," he bluntly responded.

"For who, may we ask?" Axel persisted.

"None of your-"

"Roxas? Were you waiting for me?" asked a certain female blond who finally came out.

Axel and Demyx sneered to each other while Roxas gritted his teeth.

"Great timing, you brat. Come on, we're going to be chewed out if we're late for detention," Roxas hissed, immediately starting ahead.

Namine felt a bit sad as she followed in his footsteps. After all, she had gotten Roxas in trouble for her actions.

"Detention for what?" Demyx questioned, following the two.

"Were you two caught making out or something?" chided Axel.

"Yuck! As if!" Namine objected rashly.

Roxas whirled his head in his best friends' direction. "Get lost, you guys! Or I'll beat you two to a pulp with my skateboard!"

The blond sophomore really did look threatening with his skateboard hung in between his arm and hip.

"Alright alright! We'll see you two later then," laughed the spiky red head. "C'mon Demyx, these two need to make out in detention too."

The two juniors were long gone before Roxas could chuck his skateboard at their heads as Namine giggled lightly. Those three sure were close.

"Quit laughing," Roxas demanded.

"What? I can't laugh?" Namine scowled.

"Not around me, no," inquired Roxas.

"Geez, lighten up a bit, will ya? If you're mad at me for getting you in trouble, then I'm sorry," proclaimed Namine bitterly.

Roxas irritably ruffled his golden blond spikes. "Oh shut up. I'm not mad at anything. I'm just annoyed because those three girls got in our way of finishing the poster."

Namine lifted a brow. "I thought we were going to finish the poster after school."

"I decided that getting started during lunch would be a better alternative. And since we have Mr. Valentine tomorrow, we can turn it in early with no problems," reasoned Roxas.

"Hm, yeah, that sounds like a good idea," thought Namine.

"Of course it is. I'm the one who thought it up," Roxas bragged indifferently.

"Tch, conceited-much," mumbled Namine.

"Shut up."

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"Ah, there you two are. I was afraid I would have to come and look for you," Mr. Tribal smiled, his monkey tail playfully swishing behind him.

"Err, sorry Mr. Tribal," Namine apologized.

"No need to say sorry Miss Namine. Actually, there's no need to even be here, you two," Zidane declared.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Zidane?" Roxas questioned.

"Well, Roxas, I just happened to see the whole thing when I came into Squall's room. It seems those three girls were responsible, and not you two."

Namine blinked a couple of times. "Then, why didn't you say anything, Mr. Tribal?"

"Please, Namine, call me Zidane. And why? Because it is not my right to impose on other teacher's students. It just so happened that Squall unfortunately had to look your way while talking to me at the wrong time," Zidane continued.

Roxas sighed. "So we're stuck here then?"

Zidane nodded. "You got it. BUT, I will not reinforce any punishment by separating you two. After all, I believe you two have something going on by the way Roxas stood up for Namine?"

"Yeah," Roxas confirmed. "We've got a project to do."

"Oh, my bad. I thought it was something ELSE," Zidane hinted. "Ah, but don't mind me. Go ahead and use this time to work on whatever you two need to. You're lucky you're my only detention students. Usually there are about five or six in here."

Roxas and Namine ignored Zidane's little hint, quickly thanked him, and went over to a couple of desks.

"Wow, Mr. Tri- I mean Zidane sure is a cool teacher," Namine said.

"Yup. He was my favorite Biology teacher in freshman year. He's funny and clever, and knows how to teach," Roxas added.

After getting out some supplies and the rolled up poster, Roxas quickly stood up again.

"Okay, what are we going to do first? The report or the poster?"

"Well, I have my research I did before the Chocobo Farm tour," Namine mentioned.

"I do too," Roxas mimicked, getting out his share of papers.

"Um, how about we discuss the report first? I think it will build up more creativity when we do the poster," Namine pointed out.

"Okay, then let's discuss what we know..."

Zidane had his chair leaned back while he yawned a couple of times. He hated doing detentions for the troublemakers, but was actually glad to have sensible students this time, actually working on something school-related. It was hard to find those kinds these days. His golden yellow tail slinked up and down like a snake while his feet perched up on his desk. He had just finished the worksheets he had his freshman complete before lunch and used this time to relax while Namine and Roxas worked at the front of the class.

"Zidane?"

"Hmm?" the teacher hummed, peering into the direction of a beautiful woman with long black hair.

"Oh, am I interrupting something?" she asked quaintly as she spotted Roxas and Namine looking at her.

"Dagger!!!" Zidane gleefully rejoiced, leaping up in the process and attempting to hug her.

"Now now, Zidane. This is not the time," Dagger, or rather, Garnet told.

"Awwww, c'mon Dagger! Just a kiss? Or how about a hug?" pleaded Zidane.

"No. This is an important matter I have to discuss with you," Garnet reprimanded.

Zidane smirked devilishly. "Oh? What could it be?"

Garnet pulled out some papers from her hands. "Registration forms. There are errors on some of them, and Mr. Mouse thought that you should correct them."

Zidane slumped his head miserably. "Awww, okay okay, I'll get on it."

Roxas lifted a brow. "Geez, Zidane sure is crazy about Mrs. Garnet."

Namine did the same. "Sure is. But I thought her name was Mrs. Alexandros."

"She likes to be called 'Mrs. Garnet' or 'Mrs. Alexandros', though she thinks 'Alexandros' makes her seem like a princess or a queen," Roxas stated.

Namine was still confused. "But, Zidane called her 'Dagger'."

"Now now kids, it's not nice talking about people behind their backs," Zidane called, now walking over with Garnet.

"Ah! M-My apologies, Mrs. Alexandros!" Namine panicked, bowing lowly.

"No no, it's okay Namine," Garnet chuckled. "I trust you and Roxas are not that kind of people."

Zidane took the initiative to huggle Garnet. "Daawww, Dagger, you're so loving and caring."

Roxas smirked while Namine giggled.

"Ahem," Garnet emphasized, pulling away from Zidane's warm hug. "Thank you, Zidane. I pardon my intrusion upon you two. I was just curious as to what you two are working on in 'detention'."

"We're working on our Anatomy assignment for Mr. Valentine," Roxas answered.

"Ahah! Vincent, that old bat," Zidane chuckled. "He's really strict, ain't he?"

"Yeah," Namine agreed nervously. "He shows no mercy..."

"Come now, Vincent is not all that bad," Garnet reasoned. "I've talked to him once or twice, and he's not really-"

"WHAT?! Dagger, you're not cheating on me, are you?!" wailed Zidane.

"Calm down, Zidane. I have no intention of having a word of intimacy with him. I was merely speaking to him about required school terms," Garnet reassured.

"Phew, okay," Zidane said brightly.

"Um, Zidane, if you don't mind me asking, why do you call Mrs. Alexandros 'Dagger'?" asked Namine.

Roxas listened too. Apparently he hadn't heard this piece of information yet.

"Ah, well, when we were younger, me, Dagger, and a couple others traveled to a village," Zidane began. "I used to be skilled with daggers and twin-bladed swords, so I was a fighter. Dagger here liked the weapon I wore around my belts and she wanted to be called 'Dagger'!"

"Oh, I see," Namine said.

"Well, that was back then," Garnet reiterated.

"Right! And I'll always call you 'Dagger', Dagger!" Zidane lovingly announced, pulling her into another hug. Garnet sighed and dodged his demanding hands, making her way out of the classroom.

"Okay Zidane, I expect those to be turned in to me later on this week. Good luck on your project, you two!" Garnet bade.

The three waved, especially Zidane, who smiled goofily.

Namine giggled. "My, Zidane, you're deeply infatuated with Mrs. Ale- I mean, Garnet, aren't you?"

"Oh gosh, you could tell?" Zidane perked.

Roxas frowned. "Oh give me a break..."

"Are you going to ask her to marry you one day?" Namine asked, ignoring the papers in her hands.

"They're/we're engaged," Roxas and Zidane simultaneously said.

Namine's eyes went wide with surprise. "Oh, congratulations!"

"Haha! Thanks! She may not show it, but I know she loves me!" Zidane loudly thanked. "Okay, I got to get to work on those papers Dagger gave me, so you two better get back to work also."

"Good luck on those, Zidane," Roxas said before the teacher took his leave with his monkey tail swishing behind him in delight.

"Okay," Namine started. "Where were we?"

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Namine happily trumped out of last period and on to the free Thursday air that swept by. Today went smoothly, even though she got detention for not doing anything, but Zidane was there, making everything easy for her and Roxas.

"Say, Namine, where were you during lunch?" Kairi asked following behind her.

"I was with Roxas," Namine cheerily stretched.

"Ooooohhhh," Selphie cooed. "Were you two-"

"We were in detention," Namine interrupted before Selphie could make some obnoxious story up.

Olette peered up from her book. "What for?"

Namine recited the incident in Mr. Leonhart's class, seeming as though she memorized it like a play script.

"Ugh, how pathetic of them!" Selphie fumed.

"Really. That's just immature, though I'm wondering why they would even do that in the first place," Olette added.

Kairi giggled. "Oh come on now. Don't tell me you guys haven't heard the most 'recent rumors'!"

The three looked at the auburn girl questionably.

"Kairi, don't you remember? We don't believe in rumors," Namine pointed out.

"Yes, I know. I'm not saying I believe in them. I'm just using it to prove a point here," indicated Kairi.

"Okay, then what's the 'recent rumors'?" asked Selphie almost sarcastically.

"That Namine and Roxas are an item," Kairi perked. "It's been going around like the plague since Roxas is so popular and Namine is still new.

"WHAT?! Is everyone just going to ASSUME things just because we're standing NEXT to each other?!" Namine exclaimed.

"Well, that's not entirely it, Namine," Olette laughed.

"Yeah! I mean, you were spotted helping Roxas with his injury that one time," Selphie added.

"He was hurt! I couldn't just leave him there at the park!" Namine countered.

"Plus the whole reason you WERE there," Kairi giggled.

"Hey, I didn't want to waste my time trying to get back to sleep in the dorm, especially since we had an hour before school started! I decided to use that time to explore the island and I just so happen to come across Roxas!" Namine proclaimed.

"That's not all! What about the Chocobo Farm date?" Selphie persisted.

"It wasn't a DATE! It was a tour for our project," the blonde sulked.

"That you two oh-so coincidentally got paired up with," Kairi snickered.

"Yeah, you're telling me," Namine droned, obviously missing the joke.

Kairi shook her head while Olette put her book away, seeing as how they were all so interested in Namine's dilemma.

"Well, whatever. I'm going back to the dorm," Namine said, heading toward the massive building.

"You don't want to come to the coffee shop with us?" Olette asked.

"No thanks. Coffee isn't my thing," Namine said with a smile. "I'll go some other time though."

"Okay Nam, see ya!" Selphie bade, following the auburn and brunette with a wave.

Namine waved back, and started on her way to the dorm's building entrance. While stepping into the metallic elevators, she still found herself irritated. She didn't understand why some people would jump to conclusions, especially since she's still quite new here. Also, there were no affectionate actions directing towards each other! They want to murder each other for pete's sake! Perhaps it's that foolish logic of people acting the direct opposite of their true feelings. Namine shook her head. There was no way someone like Roxas could OR would give her the time of day. Upon reaching her floor, the doors slid open, revealing a hallway littered with bits of people chit-chatting out of their rooms.

_Geez, this hallway is always talkative..._

It was quite true. Whenever school would end, Namine would immediately walk back to the dorm only to find it a social hallway. They weren't obnoxiously loud, they were just so chit-chatty. It suddenly became a bit quiet as Namine started to her room.

_Okay... This is freaky. What's everyone staring at?_

It made her stomach lurch uncomfortably, feeling everyone's eyes on her, but what made is lurch even worse was that her eyes landed on a certain blond boy leaning against her dorm room talking with a silver-haired boy she instantly recognized as Riku.

"Finally," Roxas huffed, getting off from the door.

"What are you doing, leaning against my room?" Namine asked, wanting everyone who is watching to just go away. Roxas felt the same way too, a bit annoyed that it was quiet.

"Hey, will all of you quit eavesdropping? It's annoying," Roxas announced. Riku laughed quietly as the people, startled at Roxas's request, started to chat loudly again. Some even got in the elevator and left.

"Anyway," Roxas began, a bit more quietly but still pronounced. "During detention, we only got the report done, do you remember?"

"Yeah," Namine nodded.

"Well, I think we should use today to finish up the poster," Roxas suggested, leaning against her door again.

"Sure, but, do you think we should start now?" the blond girl asked.

"Well, what do you think?" the blond boy asked sarcastically.

Namine nervously eyed the people conversing fakely around. "Well, where are we going to work on it?"

"Your room. You're an artsy person so I assumed you have a bunch of arts and crafts in yours," Roxas nonchalantly replied.

Of course, he was right. "Fine, but, wouldn't it be a bit, oh I don't know, 'sketchy' since there are countless rumors going on about us, and you just waltz into my room with about a good dozen witnesses?"

"Well," Riku began. "They don't bother to try and find out the 'truth', so why should you even care what they think?"

Namine smiled at Riku. He always truly knew what he's talking about. Namine grew very fond of him, like a brother. He even grew close to Kairi. She found herself talking to him a couple of times in class about interesting topics that came up during lectures. Roxas, however, saw this little smile and found it puzzling.

_Why is she smiling at him?_

"Yeah, you're right, Riku. Thanks," Namine said happily.

Riku smiled at her also. "No problem, Nami."

_...Nami?_

Now this little pet name puzzled him also.

"Okay, then let's get started. Do you want to come with us, Riku?" suggested the blond girl.

Riku shook his head. "No thanks. I've got a five-page worksheet to get on. Mrs. Kisaragi really doesn't cut any slack."

"Man, I feel sorry for you. History Honors isn't exactly easy," Roxas said.

"Geez, tell me about it. I have an A, but I'm staying up later than usual just trying to maintain it," Riku moaned, scratching his head.

"I hope you get better sleep tonight," Namine said in concern.

"Thanks Nami. I better get going. See you two later," the silver-haired boy bade before turning on his heels towards the elevator.

Namine shuffled for her keys in her bag while Roxas loudly sighed.

"Let's get this over with and present tomorrow," Roxas mumbled.

"Right," Namine agreed, twisting the keys and unlocking the door. The two ignored the stares from the students around and went in casually, shutting the door loudly in the process.

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Namine sat at the edge of the bed, sighing in relief.

"Alright, that should be enough for now."

Her blue eyes scanned the entire poster, admiring the job she did of drawing the anatomical structure of a Chocobo, while providing interesting facts placed at the side of it. Roxas wiped his forehead, annoyed that he had to use his "creative sense" for something so trivial.

"You go overboard when you want something to look nice," Roxas commented.

"Hey, it's like you said. You assumed I was the artsy type, so artsy is what you're getting," Namine pouted.

Roxas sprawled his arms over the floor with his belly face up. His fingers wiggled out of the loops from the scissors, clutching into a fist so he could put some feeling back into them. "I hate art."

"Nice to know," Namine replied indifferently. "So, who's going to carry the poster?"

"You are. I wouldn't be caught dead with something to glittery and lacey," Roxas smugly answered.

"Hey, that's no fair! I did most of the work on this!" pointed Namine out loudly.

"So? You CHOSE to go way beyond a passing grade on this stupid thing," Roxas countered angrily.

"Because YOU didn't have a clue on how to portray something PROPERLY," Namine emphasized, now sitting up and glowering at him.

"Properly, my BUTT! It's a stupid poster for pete's sake!" Roxas shouted, sitting up also.

"Gah! You're so impossible to reason with!" Namine scowled.

"So are you!" mimicked Roxas.

An awkward silence was shared between the two, until Namine got up and started picking up the scraps of paper scattered on the floor. Roxas sighed and started gathering the items, piling them into a group for Namine to sort out later.

"It's getting late. You should go back to your room," Namine informed while wiping her hands of any sticking paper.

"What about the po-"

"I'll carry it," Namine interrupted. "Seeing as how you don't want to be caught with it."

Roxas frowned, wishing Namine didn't have to say it like THAT. "See you tomorrow then."

Namine didn't say anything as Roxas got up to take his leave. After the door shut, Namine took a good look at the poster. It was definitely worth a passing grade because it looked as though a lot of thought was put into the composition. However, Roxas saw it differently. It was like the little details didn't matter, as long as the important things were there. What he didn't know, was that details back up the important things, making them all the more valid.

"Or maybe I'm just thinking too much," Namine said to herself. She went over and organized the materials Roxas had previously gathered, thinking about how and what she should say about this presentation tomorrow.

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Roxas sighed to himself, staring blankly at the pile of skater magazines piled on his dresser.

_What am I so depressed about?_

Really, it was strange he'd even feel this way for no reason, or was there a reason? Whatever it was, it was probably important. Roxas turned on his side, now having a staring contest with a blank wall.

"Man, what's wrong with me? I feel like a train just ran me over," he whispered. He knew for a fact that there would be no response, however, the image of his dream filled his mind instantly. It was crystal clear: the dock, the sea, and the sun. All was a vivid orange and yellow while the blurry silhouette of the docks blocked against it. Roxas's mind was now lost in this image. He found himself in it, walking towards the edge of the dock, staring at the blaring sun that retreated into the waters. His knees led him to sit down and feel the spray of sea on his pants.

_Stop dreaming and just wake up._

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A/N: 8D Well? How was it? Did you like it? Dx MAN that was long. But it was worth it. If you hadn't noticed, Zidane and Garnet are also my favorite characters of the Final Fantasy series, so that's why there was a big part in there for them. Also, they'll play a bigger role in the near future! Well, I hope you somewhat enjoyed that chapter! Please review and thanks for reading! Until next time! C8


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